Doctor Outranks Captain
by nondescriptusername
Summary: A doctor who can't help but try to put people back together and a soldier whose world has just been shattered for the second time. Not as sappy as it sounds (most of the time). Lots of swearing. Post-Winter Soldier. Captain America/ OC, with appearances by various other Avengers characters. I don't own any of the Avengers characters. Clearly.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Just an fyi, these first couple chapters might run a bit slow, but I think it's important to set up the story before we dive in. I'll try to post chapters pretty regularly, but I make no promises because shit happens. Like any author, I love reviews, so please let me know what you think, even if it's just a couple words it really means a lot and shows me that you guys are reading this. Enjoy!**

Ava Harper was having a bad day. She was in hour 56 of what was theoretically a 24 hour shift. She'd slept a grand total of 7 hours since the Triskelion fell. She could barely see straight, but was unfortunately one of the only doctors who could still stay on her feet, which meant that she was still there. And the cafeteria barista had fucked up her coffee order.

At least she could solve one of those. Whoever thought putting a Starbucks across from the hospital was a good idea might be a billionaire by now, but that was okay with her. She ordered her venti coffee with two shots of espresso and two of caramel and nursed it, eyes closed as she enjoyed the bliss that was caffeine and heat. Of course, two seconds later she looked at her watch and realized that she had been away from the hospital for a grand total of twenty minutes, which meant that there would probably be at least two fires and all the nurses quitting by the time she got back. She anxiously waited at the crosswalk, and as soon as it signaled to go, she started to run across the pavement-

"Hey! Watch out!"

She felt an arm around her waist that dragged her back onto the sidewalk just as a tiny and probably ridiculously expensive red sports car tore by, the driver clearly unaware or just uncaring that he'd just run a red light and nearly creamed one of the best surgeons in DC. Worse, he'd made her spill her coffee.

"Son of a bitch fucking SHIT that motherfucker better count his goddamn blessings that I didn't catch his license plate or I swear to god I would have CASTRATED that little fucker using completely unsanitary tools and fed his tiny little dick to goats that oblivious asshole-"

"Um, ma'am? Are you alright?"

Her helper sounded nervous, as though her swearing might be a sign of her poor fractured womanly nerves and not a logical reaction to some rich motherfucker nearly killing her and making her spill her precious coffee. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, then turned to her helper. "Yes, thank you, I'm f- STEVEN FUCKING ROGERS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

Steve's face went from concern to fear in about the space of a second. "I- uh- I-," he said, mumbling, jamming his hands into his pockets.

She glared at him. "Let me answer that question for you. You think that because you're Captain America, and you heal faster than us mere mortals, you can do whatever you please and sneak out of the hospital two days after major surgery, huh?"

"Well, ma'am, you see, I feel fine, really," he started, sheepishly, talking to her shoes.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU'RE FEELING FINE. I am your goddamn DOCTOR, and that pretty much makes me GOD as far as you're concerned, which means that if you so much as think of getting out of bed without my permission, it is my duty to kick your ass until you remember that you are a patient. Now, ARE YOU GOING TO FUCKING WALK YOUR ASS BACK TO THAT HOSPITAL OF YOUR OWN FREE WILL, OR AM I GOING TO HAVE TO DRAG YOU BY YOUR FUCKING EAR LIKE THE CHILD YOU ARE?"

Sam's face went from panic to amusement at the sight of a shamefaced Captain America following the tiny, cute doctor through the door like a bad puppy. Of course, that grin went away the second Dr. Harper spotted him.

"YOU!" she hollered at him across the room, stalking towards him in those ridiculous heels. "Your job was to WATCH this man and prevent him from pulling this kind of bullshit! You were the one who told me he was a goddamn flight risk, and now I find him across the street TWO FUCKING DAYS after MAJOR SURGERY? What the HELL is the matter with you? Are you incompetent or simply easily fooled?"

"Um- well, actually, ma'am, it was my fault. You see, I-"

She whirled on Steve as he attempted to defend Sam, and Sam swore that Captain America actually shrank in that moment. "DID I ASK WHAT YOU DID? NO. I DID NOT. I KNOW WHAT YOU FUCKING WELL DID. WHAT I WANT TO KNOW-" at this point, she whirled back around to glare at Sam again- "IS HOW THE HELL THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING YOU ALLOWED YOU TO DO WHAT YOU DID."

Sam straightened his shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You're right, Dr. Harper. It was my job to keep him in bed, and I failed. You have my apologies. It won't happen again."

Ava eyed him suspiciously, searching for any sense of mockery in his tone. Finding nothing but sincerity, she reduced her tone to one of mild fury. "It damn well better not. I'll be up in ten to make sure he didn't ruin all the hard work I did on him. And you," she said, glaring at Steve again, "had better not have fucked yourself up again, or so help me I might just let you die instead of wasting my time on someone who clearly doesn't give two shits about his own well-being."

Steve nodded meekly and followed Sam to the elevator (if Sam's shoulders were shaking with hidden laughter, no one dared comment on it). Dr. Harper surveyed the room, glaring at all of the men and women sitting or standing there staring at her. "Don't you people have jobs to do?"

There was an immediate mass of movement as people rushed to do whatever it was they were supposed to be doing (or at least something that would get them out of the room.) She surveyed the room, gave a self-satisfied nod, and headed to the stairs to go check on Captain America. And fuck, did she ever still need that coffee.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're kidding. You sewed up Captain America?"

Ava rolled her eyes at her brother's excited tone of voice, but grinned. "I become the youngest lead surgeon in a prestigious DC hospital at twenty-five and all I get is a 'good job, sis', but I sew up one meathead and now you're impressed? And, by the way, it wasn't just 'sewing him up'. That was major surgery, thank you."

"Well, yeah," said her brother, his tone mockingly condescending. "He's Captain America. He's a literal superhero. You're my weird kid sister who thinks looking at spleens is fun."

Ava gave an overdramatic gasp. "Well I guess my big strong meathead brother has much more important things to do than listen to his weird kid sister talk about work, huh?"

Jack cracked up. "Fine, fine. You're brilliant, I'm so lucky to have you as my weird kid sister, grovel, grovel, etc. Happy?"

She grinned at him. "You're damn straight. I hope you know I recorded that." When Jack groaned, she waved her hand at the screen. "Don't whine, you should have seen that coming. So, what do you want to know?"

"Is he everything they say about him?" asked Jack, sounding like an eager teenage girl again. "He's kind of a legend in the service. I mean, the Howling Commandos are legends on their own, but supposedly Steve Rogers was the best of them. And he's an Avenger. They say his fighting style is absolutely brutal."

"Shockingly, I didn't get to see his fighting style in action," said Ava, drily. "Due to the whole major surgery aspect of our interaction. Not that it seemed to make a difference. He might be a meathead legend, but the idiot tried to sneak out of the hospital two days after surgery."

Jack grinned. "Let me guess. You threatened to drag him back by his ear?" When Ava nodded, he shook his head mournfully. "He's a goddamn Avenger and you threaten to treat him like a bad five-year-old. My sister, ladies and gentlemen."

Ava gave him a sheepish look. "Hey, don't knock it. Mom used it on us for years. Actually, didn't she threaten you with that last Christmas when you were on leave?"

Jack shook his head at her in disbelief. "Yeah, but while I may be a glorious specimen of manhood, I'm not Captain fucking America."

"You know, I will say, he's as handsome as they make him out to be. Even all banged up. And… he did save me from being run over."

Jack smirked at her. "Is that a hint of a crush I hear?"

Ava stuck out her tongue at him, and Jack laughed. "Oh, please. If one of us has a crush on him, it's you. You should hear yourself drooling over him. Besides," she said, absentmindedly fiddling with her hair, "It's not like I'll ever see him again."

"Don't say things like that, sis. You're practically begging the universe to throw you two together, and I'm not ready to have to compete with all that at family reunions," Jack said, mockingly. "But as much as I hate to deprive you of my beautiful face, I really have to go. Chris's up next, and it's his kid's second birthday."

Ava smiled fondly at her brother's grainy picture. "Yeah, I figured. Can't stand looking at your ugly mug much longer anyway. Take care of it, though. If you get hurt and it gets any uglier, I might have to deny that we're related."

"Love you too, kid. And if it makes you feel better, I already deny that we're related." Jack winked at her. "Pass on love to mom and dad?"

"I always do." Ava smiled and waved good-bye as the image froze, then cut off.

Leaning back in her armchair, her gaze wandered over to the picture on her mantelpiece of her and her brother from two Christmases ago. Her mom had snapped it right as she had jumped on Jack's back to try and get revenge because he wouldn't stop making fun of her for being so excited about her job offer in DC. They were both mid-laugh, Ava half falling off but still fruitlessly trying to hold on. She smiled, a little sadly. That had been a great Christmas. Jack had managed to get a full two weeks leave, and she had been so excited to be offered the job even though she hadn't yet completed her residency. She still remembered her boss's words when he offered her the job. "I know it's unusual, and you're damn young, but I've seen surgeons twice your age who didn't have your skill. You have a gift, girl, and I'll be damned if I let some other hospital snap you up after all the work we've put into you." She smiled again at the memory; she'd felt like she was glowing. Of course, ten minutes after her boss had said that a six-car pileup came in and killed the glow, but it was still a good memory.

Ava stretched and yawned. She probably shouldn't have stayed up so late, but the time difference between here and Afghanistan meant talking to her brother at weird hours, and she wasn't about to give that up, even if he was kind of an asshole. And besides, she'd known he would want to hear about Captain America, and it was the first time she'd been able to talk to him since she'd taken care of him two weeks ago. She went into her room and crawled into bed, not even bothering to brush her teeth, and prayed that her 24 hour shift wouldn't be too bad.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Slowly working my way into the actual plot. I actually already have most of the next chapter written already, so hopefully I'll be able to get that up pretty quickly too. As always, like every other I really love reviews, so please let me know your thoughts about where the story's going in the reviews, and shoutout to abstract 0118 for the first one on this story!**

Steve slowed down as he reached the last stretch of real DC before entering Sam's neighborhood. He'd had the dream again about Bucky plummeting off the side of the train, Steve unable to help him, but in the dream Bucky's face had looked like the last time he'd seen him, his eyes full of confusion and rage and fear. That was the way it always seemed to end these days, and the adrenaline pumping through his veins when he woke up made it difficult for him to go back to sleep afterwards, so he'd started doing late night runs to burn off the stress. After all, it wasn't like he needed to worry about being mugged.

He was passing the little dive bar at the corner of the street where he and Sam would occasionally play pool when he saw a familiar figure sitting on the curb. "Dr. Harper?"

Ava blearily raised her head. "Noooooo. Not Dr. Harper tonight. Dr. Harper has left the building." She giggled, thinking how funny that was, since she really was outside, even if she didn't remember getting there.

"You know her, man?" The poor bartender looked completely done with her (understandable, since she'd cried on him twice tonight). "I was gonna call her a cab, but she won't say where she lives."

Steve looked at the woman leaning up against the brick exterior of the bar, still giggling to herself. "Yeah, I know her. She's a- well, she's a friend. Don't worry, I can handle her."

The bartender eyed him carefully. Fed up with the weepy doctor or not, he wasn't about to let her go off with some stranger and get raped or worse, even if the guy did look like he should be on the cover of a men's fitness magazine.

Steve registered the bartender's appraising eye, appreciating the guy's care. "I'll have Dr. Harper call the bar tomorrow and say she's okay. And I can give you my name and number too, if you want to be sure."

The bartender stared at him a moment longer, then shook his head. "Nah. You're friends with Wilson, right? You're the one who always wins at pool."

Steve nodded a little sheepishly. "Yeah, I actually live with him."

The bartender nodded, thoughtfully eyeing Steve's (very tight) athletic shirt. "Wilson's a good guy. I doubt he'd be living with you if you weren't a good guy too. Plus, I think I'd be able to describe you pretty well. Although," he said, a different tone in his voice, "if things don't end up working out with Wilson… I will take you up on that name and number offer."

Steve blushed. "Um…. Thanks, but, uh, not like that. With Sam. Just roommates." When the bartender raised an eyebrow, Steve hastened to clarify. "Or anything. Not looking right now. Not that I have a problem with guys. I'm just…. You know. Not looking. Right now." Ava, half asleep at his feet, started giggling.

The bartender grinned a little at Steve's obvious discomfort, which he got the feeling had more to do with being hit on at all than being hit on by a guy. Although, looking like that, he couldn't believe that he wasn't used to it by now. "Don't worry about it, man. I get it. Just take care of her, okay?"

Steve nodded, feeling more at ease. "No problem, man. Thanks for being careful." The bartender nodded back, then went back in the bar. Steve watched him go, then walked over to Dr. Harper. "Okay, doc, I'm going to need you to tell me where you live now."

Ava firmly pressed her lips together and shook her head. No boys tonight. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't take any boys home. Even pretty ones.

Steve sighed and ran his hand through his hair, then put his arms around her and lifted her up like she weighed nothing more than a kitten. "Then you're going to have to come to my place, since there's no way in hell I'm leaving you here. I'm right around the corner. Okay?"

Ava thought about it for a minute, then nodded vigorously. She hadn't promised not to go to a boy's home. Especially not a pretty boy. Like this one.

Steve sighed. It was going to be a long walk home. He started walking, cradling her carefully. "So, Dr. Harper, how much did you have to drink?"

She smiled up at him, sleepily. "Just half! Maybe most…"

Steve looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. "Half of what?"

She curled in closer to his chest like a cat. "Whiskey. It makes me forget. At least for a little while."

"Forget what?"

He felt her tense in his arms as soon as he asked. Her voice dropped to a whisper, or as much of a whisper as she could manage with most of a bottle of whiskey in her. "I killed three people today."

Steve stopped stock-still on the street and stared down at her, disbelieving. "You did what?"

She starts to sniffle, eyes welling up. "They came to me to get better, but they didn't. And I tried, and I tried, but I couldn't make them better. They came apart. Under my hands. One after another after another. I tried to stop them going but I couldn't. I couldn't." At that point, she begins to cry, tears silently running down her face, eyes glazed.

Realizing that she is not actually a murderer, Steve started walking again, as she keeps talking. "I have to save them. I have to fix them. That's why they come to me. So I can save them. But I didn't. So I killed them. I killed them. All of them. They trusted me to save them and I killed them." Ava dissolved into tears again, her body shaking with the force of her sobs.

Steve's heart ached for her. He knew what it felt like to feel like he was failing the people who trusted him to save them. Bucky's tortured face flashed before his eyes. Yeah, he definitely knew something about how she felt. "I know, Dr. Harper, I know."

Ava shook her head, hard. "No. Not Dr. Harper. Dr. Harper saves people. I killed them."

"So what should I call you then? I don't know your first name."

"It's Ava," she said, her voice still all teary. "Ava Cara Harper."

"Ava, then. You're not a killer. You tried to save them, didn't you?"

She nodded, blowing her nose in his shirt. Steve winced a little, but continued. "Then you're not a killer. You're not a murderer. You tried to save them, and that's all you can do. Sometimes the good guys just can't win. But you can't stop trying. That's when you really do become a killer. So just don't give up, alright, Ava?"

Reaching Sam's front steps, he looked down at Ava, finding her face buried in his shirt. As they walked in, Steve carefully unlocking the door while supporting her, she said, sleepily, "You're a good superhero, Captain America."

Steve felt his cheeks flush as he walked down the hallway towards his room. "I'm not really a hero," he said softly, even though Sam could probably sleep through a parade marching through the house. "You're more of a hero than I am. You save lives every day, even if you don't feel that way now. And I think I preferred you calling me Steven. Even if you were yelling at me."

He looked down at her to see her reaction, only to find her drooling on the front of his shirt, dead asleep. He shook his head and gently laid her on the bed, slipping off her heels and tucking her under the blankets before backing out into the hallway, shutting the door softly behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Longer chapter this time. I wanted to give a little more insight into how the characters would react to each other. Also, fair warning to anyone who actually knows anything about medicine, all of my medical knowledge comes from TV shows and Google, so I apologize to any glaringly obvious mistakes I might make.**

The first thing Ava registered was that her bed did not smell like her bed. Her second and overwhelming thought was that her head felt like someone had played pinball with it. The third was the truly vile taste in her mouth. She groaned and rolled over, pulling the sheets over her bed. Her memories from last night were unreliable, at best. Some friends from work had dragged her to a little dive bar after a bad 24-hour shift. There had been a bad fire downtown in an overcrowded apartment building that had quickly lit up several of the nearest buildings before the fire department could get there, and the emergency room had been packed. She'd had three deaths, something that had never happened to her before. She'd only ever lost a single patient at a time, and even that was rare for her: she had one of the highest recovery rates of the surgeons on staff. Remembering those deaths, she felt her chest ache in a way that had nothing to do with her hangover. She'd stayed at the bar drinking as one by one her friends from the hospital had drifted home. Somewhere around halfway through a bottle of whisky, things just turned into one big blur. The bartender must have called her a cab. At least there was no one in the bed next to her; she'd promised herself that she wouldn't take anyone home, but drunk Ava didn't always listen to her better, sober self.

Slowly, she rolled to the edge of the bed, groaning as her head split in two with each movement. She knew from experience that if she didn't get moving soon, she wouldn't be moving all day. Water, ibuprofen, shower, banana bag, sleep. Proven cure for hangovers. She rolled out of bed and onto the floor, blanket around her, eyes still closed to block out any threatening rays of sun (drunk Ava rarely remembered to close the blinds before passing out). It took her a few tries, but eventually she made it through her bedroom door and turned to her left towards the kitchen. She headed straight for the fridge, but got the breath knocked out of her when she ran into a very solid surface that shouldn't be there. Slowly, irritated, she cracked her eyes to find out what was in her way, only to be surprised by the appearance of a counter top that had definitely not existed before now.

"Uhhhh…. Do you need help?"

At the sound of a completely unexpected male voice, Ava jumped, catching her feet in the blanket as she came down, and ended up on the floor, completely tangled in her blanket. Her head, already painful, was now reeling at the upset of her equilibrium, and she groaned, trying to control her rising nausea. She heard someone kneel next to her, and cracked her eyes open again to find the unexpected face of Sam Wilson staring down at her. She groaned and closed her eyes again, and felt his hands close around her forearms, helping to pull her to feet again. "What- where the fuck am I?"

Sam grinned. If the lady doctor was swearing, she couldn't be too close to dead, no matter how she looked. "My house. My kitchen floor, to be precise."

She cracked her eyes again and stared at him, clearly concerned, and asked, hesitantly, "We didn't…. I mean, we didn't have sex, did we?"

Sam laughed loudly, but stopped when he saw her wince and close her eyes. "Oh god no, nothing like that. The honorable and chivalrous Captain brought your drunk ass home at two o'clock in the morning last night, tucked you into his bed, and then passed out on the couch. No sex in this house. At least, not last night."

Ava looked confused. "I thought you said this was your house?"

Sam shrugged. "It is. Technically, at least. Steve's place kinda got shot up in the shitstorm that went down last month, so he's been here until he figures out where he's going. You planning to stay on that floor all day? If you can peel yourself off it, Steve should be back with coffee soon. I'm making breakfast."

Ava briefly considered just staying curled up on the floor rather than risking the pain of more movement, but her pride was even more powerful than her hangover and she slowly pulled herself into a walking position. "Is there a shower I can use?"

Sam nodded the way she'd come. "Attached to your room. And please, for the love of god, steal some clothes of Steve's- you smell like a walking bar. I don't need that smell ruining breakfast."

* * *

When Steve got back from his run with the tray of coffee, he found Marvin Gaye playing and Sam dancing around to it as he made breakfast. Smiling, he set the coffee down on the counter and opened his mouth to ask if Dr. Harper had woken up yet when a voice came from behind him, dripping scorn (and an undertone of pleading) "Wilson, will you please turn that shit down before we all go deaf?"

Steve turned around and was completely unprepared for the sight of Dr. Harper wearing a Captain America sweatshirt Tony had gotten him as a joke last Christmas, toweling her hair dry as she walked into the kitchen. Admittedly, the sweatshirt was long enough and she was short enough that it was effectively a dress on her, but the expanse of leg from mid-thigh down was impossible to look away from.

Sam did not seem to share his concern. "Don't you go insulting Marvin Gaye in my house, sunshine. Not if you want breakfast, at least." Despite his mocking words, he turned the music down as he slid a plate across the counter at her. "Eat. Maybe then you won't be so tempted to eat us. And if you puke it up, you don't get anymore."

"Honestly, I'm more interested in that coffee. There a difference between these, Captain Rogers?"

Steve started, realizing that she was talking to him. "Um- yeah- these two are for Sam and me, this one over here is yours."

Ava reached over to the one he'd pointed to and took a long, appreciative gulp. "Wait, is this- how did you know my coffee order?"

Steve blushed. "I remembered- the Starbucks, the day that you almost got hit by the car. I was behind you in line when you ordered. I just happened to overhear it. And remember it. I have a good memory. I didn't remember it on purpose." He hastily shut up, not wanting to sound any weirder than he was sure he already did.

To his surprise, Dr. Harper actually looked mildly embarrassed by the reminder. "Right. Sorry about that. I might have overreacted a bit. It had been a long shift. Although," she said, her tone settling back into a slightly disapproving edge, "you really shouldn't have been sneaking out of the hospital."

Sam snorted. "I don't think he's ever going to make that mistake with you again, Doc. Now eat. You can't survive on coffee, and I can't have you dying when you're my guest, any more than we're allowed to die when we're yours."

Ava gave him a half-mocking look and settled onto a barstool at the counter with the plate in front of her. "You only think you can't survive on coffee because you've never tried. You try working a 24-hour shift at the hospital with a bunch of idiot residents and see what you say then."

"Yeah? You try two tours in Afghanistan and tell me a good American breakfast isn't a necessity too," Sam responded, flipping over slices of bacon as Steve tried to look at anything but Ava's legs.

Ava looked up, clearly curious. "Who were you with? I have a brother in the army. He's actually on a tour right now," she asked, taking a big bite of scrambled eggs.

"58th Para rescue. I'm down at the VA now. Steve works there too, whenever we can drag him in."

Ava nodded, thoughtfully crunching on a piece of bacon. "Yeah, I'm sure meeting Captain America is great for morale. Speaking of which, you do realize how sad it is that you own your own merchandise, right?" she said, catching Steve off guard.

"It was a present from Tony," he muttered self-consciously as Sam laughed and shook his head.

"Don't even start, woman. You don't know how cool it is to see little kids carrying around action figures of you." Sam grinned, teeth flashing. "It's great for picking up girls, too."

Ava shook her head, wincing a bit. "Yeah, whatever you say, 'no sex in this house'."

Steve looked bewilderedly between the two of them as Sam laughed. "Excuse you, doc, but we are two fine looking superheroes. This house sees its fair share of beautiful women," Sam said, loading up plates with food for him and Steve.

"The house might, but no doubt they run screaming as soon as they realize what huge mistakes they've made," Ava responded, snappily.

"Well," said Sam, thoughtfully, passing Steve his plate and sitting down, "There is a lot of screaming and physical exercise, but not a lot of running."

Ava smiled and shook her head as Steve blushed. "Yeah, you should meet my brother. The two of you would get along great. Unrealistic egos and all that. Is that a soldier thing, or is it just these guys?" she asked Steve, turning towards him.

Steve hastily swallowed the bite he had just taken, carefully not noting how the way she turned toward him pulled the sweatshirt tight across her chest. "Trust me, ma'am, not all of us are like this."

Ava arched an eyebrow at him. "Ma'am? Really? I'm twenty-five, Steve, not a geriatric, and you've seen me shitfaced. I think that you can call me Ava. Especially since I'm not technically your doctor anymore."

"Speaking of being shitfaced, Doc, how are you getting home? We can call you a cab, if need be, or one of us can give you a ride home," Sam asked, wolfing down his breakfast.

"Actually, I left my car at the hospital, if one of you doesn't mind giving me a ride."

"I'll do it," Steve quickly volunteered, ignoring the look Sam gave him. "Sam can take my motorcycle, I needed the car to get groceries today anyway."

Ava raised her eyebrows. "You're kidding. You ride a motorcycle? Do you know how dangerous those things are? If I had a dollar for every motorcycle injury that came into the ER, I wouldn't have to work for the rest of my life."

Sam shook his head almost mournfully. "You do realize that he's Captain America, right? I'm just checking, because it sounds like you've forgotten."

Ava crossed her arms and glared at Sam. "He might be, but you're not. And just because he heals more quickly than normal people doesn't mean he should take stupid risks."

Sam rolled his eyes at her. "Sure thing, doc. Steve, will you get her out of here before she makes us get rid of the bike?"


	5. Chapter 5

**I know two chapters in one day might be a bit much, but I'm on a roll and this is a short chapter anyway. Sorry if this feels too depressing, but I think it's important to emphasize the connection between them, and this conversation introduces a couple important plot points that come back later on. As always, please tell me what you think! Seriously, guys. Reviews. I love them.**

 **Edit: Sorry for the issues with the code showing! All of those have now been fixed, I hope, so it's actually readable now. Shoutout to abstract0118 for letting me know!**

The car ride back to the hospital was mostly silent, and definitely awkward. Steve tried, silently, to come up with anything to say, but small talk hadn't been one of his strengths when he was in the right time, and he still didn't feel comfortable enough to bring up anything from the twenty-first century, especially with someone as beautiful and educated as Ava. He was honestly considering remarking on the weather when she suddenly turned to him and started talking in a fast, clipped voice.  
"Look- I just wanted to- if I did anything last night that made you uncomfortable- I just want you to know that I don't usually drink. And I never drink like that. It was- I was just having a bad night, and I didn't handle it well. So I'm sorry. That you had to deal with me, I mean. And thank you. And if you ever tell anyone about it, I will personally make a point of chopping off one of your limbs. I'm pretty sure even your superhuman healing doesn't apply to missing limbs."  
Steve sat silently for a moment, nonplussed by her reaction. "You really think that I would do that?" he said, his voice guarded.  
Ava sighed and leaned her head back against the car seat. "No offense to you. Honestly, I barely know you. But I've known enough bad guys in my life that I've learned to be careful. You seem like a decent guy- but the truth is, I've been wrong before. So I want to be clear on where we stand."  
"Dr. Harper," Steve said, his voice tight. "I want to be clear. I would never, ever, do something like that to anyone, let alone the woman who saved my life. And helping you- well, if not my pleasure, because I don't like seeing anyone that upset, it was no less than I would have done for anyone. Especially in your situation. I know better than most people how hard it can be when you feel like you've betrayed the trust people have in you. Better than most, I think."  
Ava stared straight ahead, refusing to meet his eyes. "Except I did betray their trust. People don't trust me to operate on them so they die. They trust me to make sure they live."  
Steve shook his head as he pulled into the parking lot. He put the car in park and turned towards her, leaning in. "Like I said, I know the feeling. I had a friend… my best friend, actually. Bucky Barnes. He followed me into war, trusting me to lead him out, and I betrayed his trust. In fact, I only recently found out how much I failed him. I have to live with that knowledge every single day." He leaned back. "Honestly, I can't judge you even a little bit for drinking. If I could drink and forget that feeling, I'd be in that bar with a bottle in my hand in a heartbeat."  
Ava eyed him, cautiously. "But you're Captain America. You're a superhero. You've saved thousands of lives."  
"So have you," said Steve, his voice quiet.  
They both sat there, awkwardly silent. Ava finally got out of the car, holding the door open and ducking her head into the car. "Well, anyway, thanks again," she said, hesitantly.  
"It really was no trouble," said Steve, woodenly, his thoughts caught up on Bucky and Ava.  
Ava paused for a second, then shut his door and walked to her car. Steve watched her go, still thinking about what she'd said about not telling anyone about her moment of weakness, and wondering about what experiences she'd had in the past to make her feel that she needed to say it. What kind of person would target someone like that?


	6. Chapter 6

When Ava got back to her apartment after Steve had dropped her off at the hospital, she quickly changed into her comfort clothes and crawled into bed. For a couple minutes, she just lay there, her mind occupied by the weird atmosphere in the car. The weird atmosphere she had created when she had threatened him, which had honestly felt ridiculous even as she said it, like a kitten threatening a mountain lion.

Sighing, she rolled over and grabbed her cell phone off her side table and called her mother.

"Gattina!" exclaimed her mother as soon as she picked up, her voice full of happiness, and Ava instantly felt herself relax at her mother's voice and the familiar pet name, like yesterday hadn't even happened. "I'm so glad you called. We don't hear from you enough. So, tell me everything that has been happening in your life. Have you talked to your brother? How is work?"

Ava smiled, even though her mother couldn't see her. "I talked to Jack a couple days ago. He's good. Same smartass as always. Said to pass on his love to you and papa. Work's been hard though, mama. I lost three patients yesterday."

"Oh, my love, I'm so sorry," her mother said, her voice full of sympathy.

"I didn't handle it in the best way, either. I kinda went on a bender last night," Ava confessed, her voice full of shame.

Her mother's voice was still sympathetic, if a little bit teasing. "And did that make it any better?"

"Not the alcohol…. But something else actually did," Ava responded, a hint of a smile in her voice.

No one could ever call Alessandra Harper a stupid woman. "Something or someone?" she asked, her voice eager.

"Someone," Ava responded, a little reluctantly. "You remember a couple weeks ago, when I treated Captain America at the hospital?"

Alessandra was quiet for a second, connecting the dots. "Gattina, please tell me that handsome man took you home and cheered you up in the best way possible," she finally said, her voice sly.

"Mama!" Ava said, faux shock in her voice. "Not like that! I mean, technically, he did take me home. But we didn't have sex. He literally carried me to his house and put me to bed, like a drunk child."

"Mmmmhmmm," her mom said, the sound carrying mountains of disbelief. "My love, you're a beautiful young doctor. I don't care if he is a superhero, there is no way he has girls like you crossing his path often."

"Really, he was a perfect gentleman. Didn't make a single move on me. Not that it matters, because I kinda lit into him when he gave me a ride to my car this morning. I gave him this whole speech about how if he told anyone about my breakdown I'd cut off a limb. I actually _threatened_ Captain America, mama," she said, her voice chagrined.

"Why, gattina?" her mother asked, softly. "Did he make you feel like you needed to?"

"No! And that's the problem. Like I said, he was perfectly nice. I don't know why I did it."

On the other end of the line, Alessandra smiled sadly. Ava might be brilliant when it came to medicine, but when it came to people, especially herself, she could sometimes be completely blind. "You know why, my love. It's because of what happened with Conrad."

Ava winced at the name, grateful her mother couldn't actually see her reaction. "It had nothing to do with him, mama," she said, hating herself for trying to force out every word. "That was a long time ago. I'm over it."

"That's not something you get over, Ava. What he did- you're going to carry that with you for the rest of your life. And that's okay," her mom said, reassuringly. "It's not okay what he did, but it is okay for you to have baggage. All of us do."

Ava tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "I don't think it matters, mama. I'm pretty sure I burned that bridge pretty thoroughly. He wouldn't even look at me when I said goodbye."

"So fix it, gattina. Or at least apologize. It can't hurt." She smiled. She recognized the sound of disappointment in her daughter's voice. Even if she didn't know it, she liked this man. And if there's one thing Alessandra knew, it was that the Harper women were very hard to resist when they put their minds to something.

"Maybe," Ava responded, hesitantly. "But enough about me. How are you and papa?" she asked, her voice more cheerful.

Alessandra smiled. "We're good. Your papa is loving his current group of students. Says there's a woman in one of them who can make an apple pie almost as good as yours. And the new line is coming along well. I actually just sent you a box of new stuff yesterday."

"Mama," Ava said, reproachfully. "You know you don't have to do that. I am a doctor, I make enough money to buy my own clothes."

Her mother clucked her tongue at that. "I know that, gattina, but are any clothes you buy specifically tailored to fit you? I think not."

Ava sighed, but still smiled. "I guess you're right. Thanks, mama."

"Anything for you, my little cat. Now, I have to go, but you must promise me that you will try to apologize to the poor boy."

"I know better than to try to argue with you," Ava said, her tone teasing.

"And yet you try all the same," her mother responded, her tone matching Ava's. "But I suppose you wouldn't be my daughter if you did otherwise. I love you, gattina. And your papa loves you too."

"And you know I love both of you," Ava responded. "Bye, mama." She hung up, then gently set the phone down, turning her mother's advice over in her head.

* * *

When Steve got home from the gym on Wednesday, he found Sam sitting in the kitchen, staring at a covered dish. "What's that?" he asked, getting a glass of water from the fridge.

Sam held up a note. "Present from the lady doctor. She made us apple pie as a thank you for taking care of her drunk ass. Says in the post script to say sorry to you if she offended you in the car."

Steve came over. "If it's an apple pie, why are you staring at it like it's a bomb about to go off?"

Sam turned to him. "Because I was debating whether to tell you that shortly after this apple pie arrived on our front porch, all our cameras went dead for about two and a half minutes, then came back on."

Steve froze, his glass halfway up to his mouth. "You don't think-" he stopped mid-sentence, afraid to voice his hope.

"That our friendly neighborhood cold war kid was checking it out to make sure someone wasn't trying to kill you? Yeah, I do. Either that, or he's still trying to kill you and this pie has been poisoned," said Sam. "Or all our cameras decided to malfunction at once. Thoughts?"

Steve's only response was to reach over and nab a bite of the pie. "Doesn't taste like death to me," he said, mouth full, as Sam rolled his eyes at his friend's recklessness. "And I'm betting it's not door number three. So that means Bucky's here, and he's looking out for me," Steve said, feeling relieved.

After Natasha had given him those files, he and Sam had been trying to figure out where Bucky might have fled to, thus far unsuccessfully. Bucky had disappeared without a trace. They hadn't gotten a single hit off of him on any intelligence server Natasha had given them access to, which was incredibly frustrating. But if Bucky was here, close by, watching him… Steve let a small smile slip across his face.

Sam glanced up at him, his face clearly concerned. "Easy there, Steve. Don't get too excited. Remember, Bucky was in a pretty bad state the last time you saw him. He might not still be fully in control of himself yet."

"But he's here," Steve said. "And judging by the lack of attempts on my life, he's not still trying to kill me. That's something."

Sam sighed and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the counter. He could tell Steve wasn't going to be reasonable about this, so he opted to change the subject instead. "So, how's the pie?"

"Really good," Steve said, eating another bite. "Best I'd ever had."

Sam laughed, shaking his head. "Quite a recommendation, coming from Captain America," he said. "So, when should we have her over?"

Steve looked at him, surprised. "Why would we do that?"

"Because you looked at her the same way you're looking at that apple pie," Sam said, mockingly. When Steve opened his mouth to protest, Sam waved a hand at him to shut him up. "And if you want to deny it, then I would like to have an attractive female in this house who doesn't have the ability to murder me if I piss her off."

Steve scoffed. "I don't know, man. The last time I saw her, she did threaten to cut off one of my limbs."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "See, now I know I like this girl. You've met her twice, and both times she's managed to resist you. We're inviting her over, no matter what your argument is. Actually, _you're_ inviting her over. Since you're not interested her in anything but a friendly way, that shouldn't be a problem for you, right?" Sam grinned at Steve's evident discomfort, enjoying watching him struggle for an excuse. He was going to have fun with this.


	7. Chapter 7

**So this is the longest chapter yet, but I wanted to try and get this whole series of events down in one chapter. After this, we're going to move a little bit faster and start bringing in more of the other characters from the Avengers, including (hopefully) Natasha next chapter, so thanks for sticking it out with me through these first few(seven)! As always, I love feedback, so reviews are always welcome, and mild disclaimer, all of my knowledge of DC transport is the result of my frantic googling to come up with a semi-realistic apartment placement for Ava, so if any of you are actually from DC, I apologize in advance.**

Steve rode his motorcycle into the hospital parking lot and parked it, feeling deeply uncomfortable. Sam had spent the last two days hounding him about seeing if Ava wanted to come over for dinner, and he'd finally run out of excuses. Honestly, Steve wasn't entirely sure why he was so against the idea. She might have been a hardass in the hospital, and she had threatened him in the car, but she clearly wasn't a bad person. In fact, Steve appreciated the fact that she seemed completely unapologetic about who she was. He'd had enough women fawn over him to last him a lifetime, not to mention every politician or reporter or military type who tried to befriend him so they could have an in with the Avengers. All those people ever wanted was the uniform, not the man inside it. That was one thing that hadn't changed when he woke up.

There was just something about Ava that made him feel unbalanced, like he was always scrambling to catch up with her. She reminded him a little bit of Natasha in that. She just came off as so unapproachable. Seeing her broken down the other night had touched his heart, but the next morning, there was no sign of that struggle. And he just felt so incompetent next to her. He knew that he wasn't an idiot, but he also knew that she was smart in a way he never could be. The extent of his education was high school, and she was a surgeon. And she was beautiful too, which only made it worse. Steve knew that the serum had changed him physically, but whenever he was around a pretty girl, he still had that skinny kid from Brooklyn in the back of his mind telling him there was no way she wouldn't give him a second glance.

Sighing, he got off the bike and walked through the hospital doors. Walking up to the front desk, he smiled politely at the girl on duty. "Excuse me, ma'am, but is there any chance you could tell me if Dr. Harper's on duty?"

The woman gaped at him for a second, then blushed a bright red. "Yes, sir, she is. She's actually in a surgery right now, but it should be wrapped up in the next fifteen minutes or so. She doesn't have another surgery for an hour, if you'd like to wait until she gets out. I can have someone let her know you're here when she gets out?"

"I'd appreciate that, ma'am. You can tell her it's Steven Grant." He paused and the nurse smiled and nodded eagerly, staring at him. "So, should I wait here?" he asked, gently.

The nurse blushed bright red again. "Oh my god, yes, of course, I'm so sorry. There's a small lounge right through there," she said, pointing to a small entryway off to the right. "Can I bring you anything? Coffee, tea, water, something from the cafeteria?"

Steven forced the polite smile to stay in place, even as he internally winced. "No thank you, ma'am. You have a good day," he said, and turned and quickly walked towards the waiting room, leaving the nurse staring dreamily after him.

About half an hour later, Steve looked up from his book at the click of approaching heels. "Well, that explains why the nurse at the front desk looked like she'd seen Santa Claus," Ava said, dryly. "That woman has literally has literally dealt with people running through those doors with their guts falling out, but one visit from Captain America and it's like she's a fifteen-year-old."

"I'm sorry," Steve said, blushing.

Ava sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't tease. Especially after I was such a bitch to you when you gave me a ride home the other day. Did you get my apology pie, by the way?"

Steve waved her apology away. "Really, don't worry about it. And the pie was fantastic, which is actually why I'm here. Sam wanted me- I mean, we wanted to see if you wanted to come over for dinner again. It's nice to have someone who's actually normal over for company, and Sam says you couldn't fully appreciate his cooking last time because you were hungover." As soon as the words left his mouth, Steve winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mention that. It just slipped out."

Ava shrugged. "It's fine. And honestly, that would be great. With my hours, it's hard to make friends who don't just want to talk about medical procedures 24/7. I'm off tomorrow, I could come over early and help prep dinner, if that's okay?"

Steve nodded. "I'll double check with Sam, but I think that'll be okay."

"Well, here," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a business card and pen. She scribbled down a number on the back of it, then passed it to Steve. "Here's my cell number. Just text me and let me know when I should come over and if I should bring anything, okay? Now, I hate to rush, but I only have about half an hour at this point before my next surgery, and if I don't eat something, I might faint into the guy's chest," she said, then grimaced. "Sorry. Surgeon humor. Kinda morbid. Do you need help getting out of here?"

Steve gave her a slight smile. "No, I think I've got it, since the door's right over there. I appreciate it though. And I'll text you the plans later tonight."

Ava nodded her thanks, inwardly berating herself for saying something so stupid. He probably thought she was being condescending. "Sounds great! See you then!" she said, a little too cheerfully, and walked away as quickly as she could before she could sound even ditsier.

* * *

"So, did you do it?" asked Sam as soon as Steve walked through the door.

"Yes, Sam, I did it," he said, sighing. "She's free tomorrow night, and she said one of us should text her when she should come over and if she should bring anything."

"She gave you her number, huh?" Sam, said, his tone of voice saying everything his words didn't.

Steve sighed. "She wasn't flirting with me, Sam. She was in a hurry, and I didn't know what time she should come over, so she gave me her number for that."

"Whatever you say, Captain," Sam said mockingly. "Well, you can text her and tell her that she can be here at five, and she doesn't need to bring anything but her fine self."

Steve rolled his eyes at that last comment, but pulled out his phone.

Ava was in her office filling out paperwork when her phone buzzed. Absentmindedly, she reached for it and saw it was a message from an unknown number.

 _Sam says you should come by at five, and you don't need to bring anything_. Ava quickly saved the number in her phone, then replied.

 _Sounds good. Can I ask what we're making? I know he said I don't need to bring anything, but I'll feel bad if I don't at least bring a bottle of wine._

"Sam, what are we having for dinner tomorrow? She's asking," Steve asked, looking up from his phone.

"Pasta alla norma, why?" Sam asked.

Steve shrugged. "She wants to bring a bottle of wine."

"Well, I'm not going to turn that down, even if you can't enjoy it," Sam said, laughing.

Steve ignored him to respond to Ava. _He says pasta alla norma._

Her reply came back quickly. _He does realize my grandmother is Sicilian, right? If he butchers this dish, I might have to kill him._

 _I'm sure he'll do what he can. And after all, you'll be there to make sure he does it right._

 _As long as he doesn't argue with me. After all, never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line. Or in this case, I guess it's death or food on the line._

Steve frowned, then shrugged. _I'm sorry, I think you're referencing something but I'm not catching it?_

 _The Princess Bride? Vizzini and the iocane powder?_

 _Sorry, haven't seen that one. My pop culture knowledge is sadly lacking._

Ava gave a slight groan. _Nope, sorry, unacceptable. You have to see the Princess Bride. I refuse to be friends with someone who hasn't seen it._

Steve got a slight smile on his face, ignoring the slight pain at her describing him as her friend again. _Well, we could watch it tomorrow night, if the situation's that dire._

 _Consider it done. I'll bring my copy and a bottle of wine, and I promise not to poison either cup. Sorry, I promise that joke will be a lot funnier tomorrow._

Steve grinned. _I'll look forward to it, then._

* * *

"So, what did I tell you? What did I tell you?" Ava exclaimed, eagerly looking over at Steve.

Steve hesitated, then grinned. "You were right. It was really good. And you're right, the joke is funnier with context."

"And having seen that and how quickly you chop vegetables with a giant knife in the kitchen, I have resolved to never arguing with you again," Sam said with mock fear.

Ava blushed, adding to the flush in her cheeks from her three glasses of wine. The first she had drank quickly to help her loosen up, but she'd sipped the last two throughout dinner and the movie, finding herself enjoying spending time with the two men more and more. Sam reminded her a lot of her brother, all jokes and sarcasm and faux narcissism, while still a great guy underneath. Steve was quieter, still a little guarded, but he was loosening up around her, and she found herself appreciating his little smiles and the dry humor of the jokes he would occasionally throw into the rapid fire exchange between her and Sam.

"As you shouldn't," she said, gravely. "But I thought you would have learned that lesson when I threatened your life in the hospital after you let him escape," she said, jerking her thumb at Steve.

"True, but the sight of you sprawled on my kitchen floor in a pile of blankets helped to cancel that image out," Sam responded. When she made a face at him, he raised his hands in surrender. "Don't worry, it's back now!"

"And speaking of getting back now, I should probably be heading back to my apartment," Ava said as she and the others stood, and smiled. "This really was fun, though. We should do it again."

"Sounds good to me," Sam said. "It's nice to not be the sole person cooking for this guy. I swear, he eats enough calories to feed a horse."

Steve blushed. "I have a fast metabolism," he muttered.

"I wish I had that problem," Ava said with a laugh. "I'm off Sunday night- would that be okay? I'll bring the first Indiana Jones, so we can continue your movie education, Steve."

"Works for me," he said.

"Me too," said Sam.

"Sounds good then. I'll text you tomorrow so we can make a real plan," Ava said, stifling a yawn at the end of her sentence.

"How were you planning on getting home?" Steve asked.

"Just taking the metro. There's a stop pretty close to my apartment building, and it's only a short walk from here," she said, picking up her purse and shrugging it over her head.

Steve frowned. "What stop?" he asked.

"Clarendon."

He shook his head. "It'll take you at least forty-five minutes to get there. I'll give you a ride, it'll be faster and safer."

"I couldn't, I wouldn't want to put you out," Ava demurred.

"Really, it's no trouble, and the 1940s soldier in me doesn't like the idea of you having to walk from your metro stop at night, even a short walk," Steve said.

Ava sighed. "Okay," she said, reluctantly.

"I'll be back soon, Sam," Steve said, following Ava out the door and grabbing his keys out of the key bowl.

"I won't wait up," Sam said under his breath as the door shut behind the two of them.

Ava started to head towards the car, but Steve grabbed her arm and tugged her towards the motorcycle instead. "Ohhhh no," she said, stopping. "There is no way in hell I'm getting on that thing."

Steve turned toward her, his face serious. "Come on, Ava. I promise not to get into an accident."

Ava vehemently shook her head. "Not a chance. You may be essentially indestructible, but I am not, and I have seen way too much evidence of what those things can do to ever want to ride one." She turned around and stubbornly started walking towards the street, determined to walk to the metro station rather than get on the motorcycle.

"Ava," Steve said, his tone of voice making her hesitate and turn back toward him. "I promise I won't let you get hurt. I have never been in a car accident," he said, leaving out the disclaimer 'when someone wasn't shooting at me'. "Just, trust me on this. Please?"

Ava hesitated, debating. Finally, she sighed and walked back towards Steve. "Fine, but you'd better have a helmet for me," she grumbled.

Steve gave her a broad grin, throwing Ava for a moment. When he smiled like that, he just looked so young, like all of the hard things he'd seen had disappeared. Wordlessly, he handed her a helmet and pulled his on as well, climbing on the bike. He normally didn't wear one, but something told him it wasn't worth arguing with her over that tonight.

"Climb on behind me and put your feet on here," he instructed, pointing. "Then put your arms around my waist, as tight as you can, and hold on tight."

Ava did as he said. She didn't hold on very tight at first, leaning a little back, but as soon as he turned on the motorcycle, she yelped and her arms locked around him, pushing her body up against his, her face buried in her shoulder. Steve smiled a little bit, glad she couldn't see his face.

* * *

By the time they got to her apartment, Ava had relaxed enough that she actually seemed to be enjoying the ride. "I told you I wouldn't let you get hurt," Steve said as they dismounted the bike and removed their helmets. "And admit it, you had fun."

Ava tugged her fingers through her wind-tangled curls. "I can see the appeal," she admitted. "But not enough to make it worth being horribly maimed."

Steve grinned at her. "Well, as long as you ride with me, I'll keep you safe," he said.

They both stood there awkwardly for a second, neither sure what to say next. "Well, I'll text you about dinner Sunday," he said, finally.

"Sounds good," she replied, quickly. They both stood there for another awkward beat.

"Well, have a good night," Steve said, climbing on his bike.

Ava nodded. "You too," she said, feeling irrationally disappointed, though she didn't know why. Before that disappointment could show on her face, she hastily walked into her apartment building.

Steve watched her go in, then restarted his bike and drove off, speeding as though he could leave behind the strange sense of disappointment in the bottom of his stomach.


	8. Chapter 8

**We finally get Natasha! Her relationship with Ava is a really interesting one for me- they're both clearly very strong willed women, and they're both used to people reducing them to their physical characteristics, so they just feel kinda perfect for each other to me. As always, I love reviews, so please please please let me know your thoughts! A special shout out to abstract0118 for managing to review most of the chapters, and Qweb, there's a little something in here as per your request (I hope it's enough!)**

Natasha knocked on Sam's front door, then backed up to lean against the porch railing. When Steve answered the door, she gave him her best shark grin. "Hey there, soldier boy," she said.

Steve's surprise quickly faded into a smile. "Natasha! We didn't expect you back so soon. I thought building a new cover would take you longer than two months."

Natasha shrugged and sauntered over to him. "The quiet life never really suited me, and knowing how stubborn you can be, I figured you'd need help tracking down Barnes."

Steve shook his head with a smile. "You really do know everything, don't you? So, if I give you a hug, do you promise not to kill me?"

Natasha gave him a real smile in response to that. "As long as you don't tell anyone. I do have an image to maintain, you know." The pair hugged, and Steve turned back towards the house.

"Come on in so you can get what you really want. I know it's not coincidence that you showed up in time for Sam's breakfast."

Natasha followed him into the house. "The thought may have crossed my mind," she admitted, making Steve laugh.

Natasha grinned and leaned back in the couch, enjoying being around the pair again. "So Steve," she said, interrupting his banter with Sam, "did you ever call that nurse?"

Sam gave a low whistle. "Come on, Natasha. You're behind the times. He's chasing after a doctor now."

Steve blushed as Natasha raised her eyebrows. "Now this I've got to hear," she said, grinning at Steve's discomfort.

"I'm surprised you don't already know everything about her, Nat," Steve mumbled. "Besides, I'm not chasing after her. We're just friends," he said, with a glare at Sam, who grinned unabashedly.

"So he says, but Natasha, you've got to see him around her. Last week we watched _The Little Mermaid_ because it's her favorite Disney movie," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Group date?" asked Natasha, her expression incredulous.

"No! She comes over most of her nights off and the three of us have dinner and watch a movie. She's an even better cook than Sam," Steve said, ignoring Sam's exaggerated expression of outrage. "And I hadn't seen The Little Mermaid. And, for the record, Sam, don't think I missed you humming 'Kiss the Girl' when we left so I could give her a ride home."

"A ride home, huh?" Natasha said.

Steve blushed. "Not like that. Really, we're just friends. In fact, we're having dinner the night after next. You should come by, so you can meet her. And tell Sam how crazy he is."

"I think I will," Natasha said thoughtfully, resolving to check out this girl a little bit more first.

* * *

"Dr. Harper."

Ava turned at her name and saw a pretty redhead leaning against the wall by the nurse's station. The woman pushed herself off the wall and walked over to her, her smile disarming. "I know you're on your break right now, but I was hoping we could have a quick chat?"

Ava sighed. So much for her hope of a hot lunch. She mentally flipped through her patients, trying to think who this redhead belonged to. "Of course, miss… I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."

The woman smiled again. "Apologies. My name's Natasha. Would you like to walk to the cafeteria while we talk? I wouldn't want you to miss out on a hot lunch on my behalf."

Ava blinked with surprise. Patient's families rarely were so thoughtful. "Thanks, I'd appreciate it." The pair walked into the cafeteria and Natasha sat down at a table while Ava got her food. She waited until Ava had sat down and gestured for her to go ahead and eat, then started speaking.

"Dr. Harper, I just wanted to clarify a few things for you about your relationship with Mr. Rogers."

Ava paused as she was about to take a bite and frowned. "Mr. Rogers? Sorry, but I'm afraid you might have the wrong doctor. I'm not treating a Rogers right now."

Natasha gave her a polite smile. "Of course not, Dr. Harper. I'm referring to Steve Rogers."

Ava frowned. "You're here at the hospital to talk to me about Steve?"

Natasha nodded. "I just wanted to make a few things clear," she said, her tone polite. "As you may have noticed, Steve is a rather trusting individual. However, his career choice means that some people take advantage of his trusting nature, people who might wish to have someone with his strengths on their side, or want the power that goes with having a friend with his strengths. As one of his good friends, I feel that reminding you that he has several other very good friends who might object to seeing him used as such."

Ava stared at her, then snorted. "Wait, are you serious? Are you giving me the big brother talk? For Captain fucking America? I'm pretty sure that there's a recently deceased international spy organization that can vouch for his ability to take care of himself."

Natasha gave her another gentle smile, edged in a threat. "It's true, he can take care of himself. But I, and his other friends, take care of him too. We want to make it clear that if you're throwing yourself in his path for your own personal gain, he won't have to take care of himself. We'll take care of you first."

Ava raised her eyebrows. "You're threatening me?"

Natasha looked shocked. "Threatening you? Of course not. I just want to make sure that you don't do anything you might later regret."

Ava glared at her. "Miss Natasha, I want to make one thing very clear to you. Throughout my life, I have had many people try to tell me what I can and can't do. I don't take kindly to it. Now, I understand that this is clearly your misguided attempt to take care of your friend, and I can respect that. But I don't like being threatened, and I think that Steve seems like the kind of person who can take care himself. Not physically, clearly, because apparently the man thinks he's fucking indestructible, but otherwise. So thanks for the warning, but it's really not necessary. Now, I have patients to take care of. It was nice to meet you, Natasha. I hope it's under better circumstances next time."

Natasha watched her with an unreadable expression as she pushed her chair back and left the cafeteria, her back straight as she started to stalk out, then turned around and dramatically stomped back to Natasha. "And, just to be clear, Steve and I are just friends!" Having communicated her message, she spun back around and stomped away, leaving Natasha behind.

* * *

"I brought takeout!" Ava sang out as she unlocked the door and marched into the kitchen. "Seriously, the guy thought I was crazy when I ordered this much. He actually asked me if I was planning on eating all of this by m-" she stopped as she saw the redhead from earlier sitting on the countertop, half smiling at something Sam was saying.

"As long as he gave you plenty of duck sauce, I don't care," Sam said, coming over and grabbing a bag from her. "Sorry, Ava, I forgot to warn you that Nat was joining us tonight. Ava, this is Natasha, Natasha, Ava."

Natasha slid off the counter gracefully and gave Ava a lazy smile. "We've already met."

Shaking herself, Ava set down the other bag on the counter and started unloading takeout. "Yeah, when she threatened me if I broke our poor Stevie's heart or used him as my own personal thug or something."

Steve walked into the kitchen in time to hear Ava. "Aw, Nat, come on. Give me some credit. And besides, I told you, it's not like that. We're just friends."

Nat's smile gained a mocking twist. "Just taking care of our favorite national treasure. Besides, it worked on that girl from the coffee shop who thought opening her shirt to her waist was a good way to make friends. Though to be fair, I'm pretty sure she just wanted to brag to her friends that she slept with Captain America."

Steve blushed. "I wouldn't have slept with her, Jesus, Nat. She was a teenager, for Christ's sake."

Nat rolled her eyes. "Well obviously but it still saved you a lot of unnecessary blushing, and now we always get the good barista because she hides in the back when she sees you come in now."

Ava snorted at that one. "Can I get you to come give some of the guys at work that talk? There's a couple that I think would be better off in the long run hiding in bathrooms when I come around."

Steve looked at her, concerned. "Someone's harassing you at work?"

Now it was Ava and Nat rolling her eyes at him, though Nat beat Ava to answer him. "Steve, she's a hot, young, female doctor, and most male doctors have god complexes that could rival Tony's. I'm just surprised there's only a couple she wants gone."

Ava nodded in agreement. "Seriously, it's like they all think I went to med school so I can marry a doctor. If all I wanted was a husband, I'm pretty sure there's cheaper and easier ways than med school."

Grabbing plates and setting out silverware on autopilot, Natasha watched the girl out of the corner of her eye as she and Steve opened up the food and started grabbing drinks. Steve was much more relaxed around the girl than he was around most women, other than the women he worked with like Maria, or women who were thoroughly taken, like Pepper. The girl seemed comfortable with him too, and even though they barely touched each other and never said anything that was more than friendly, the chemistry between them was obvious. When she turned away, Steve's eyes would linger on her a beat too long. When she talked to him, her head tilted up, she unconsciously started tugging at her hair. They might as well have been shouting that they wanted each other, it was that obvious.

"Told you they were more than friends," Sam said quietly, walking up behind her.

"You're not wrong," Natasha said, still keeping an eye on the other two, who were in their own little world as they chatted. "He's never going to make a move, though. You know him."

Sam sighed. "Yeah, I know, and she has no idea that he's even interested in her. And honestly, she's so focused on her job, I think it would take a flashing neon sign to get her to notice it. The doc's pretty great, though. He relaxes around her more than anyone else. Besides us, that is. I think he likes that she doesn't seem to remember that he's Captain America half the time."

Natasha nodded, her mind made up. "Well, we'll just have to work on that."


	9. Chapter 8 (and a half)

**Just a quick little baby chapter here. It's not much, but I wanted to bring Clint in before the next chapter, and it felt really disjointed adding it onto the next chapter, so it's just a solo short. Enjoy!**

 **Edit: sorry about the issue with the commands showing up. They should all be fixed now!**

Ava and Sam walked through the front door of Sam's house, both carrying grocery bags. Sam paused in front of Ava as they walked in, noticing the light on and the sound of the TV, neither of which would have been odd if it wasn't for the fact that Steve was out on a run. Shrugging, Sam walked into the living room to find Natasha and Clint sitting on the couch, watching TV.  
"I don't remember giving you a key," Sam said drily, putting the groceries down on the kitchen table.  
Natasha raised a single eyebrow. "You do realize I'm an international assassin and spy, right? I've literally brought down governments. I can make a copy of your key."  
"And yet you can't cook to save your life," Ava said, putting her groceries down next to Sam's. "Who's your friend?"  
"Clint shifted Natasha's legs off his lap and came over to where Ava stood looking at them. He leaned against the counter and flashed her his best smile. "Barton. Clint Barton. You can call me Hawkeye too."  
"Ignore him, he's harmless," Natasha called, her attention still focused on the TV.  
Clint turned towards her, drawing in a dramatic gasp. "You do realize I'm dangerous right? I've killed people too!"  
"With a bow and arrow. You're basically Robin Hood in purple spandex," Sam supplied drily from behind Ava as she hid a smile.  
Clint threw up his hands with a huff. "I don't know why I hang out with you people," he muttered, flopping down on one of the counter barstools.  
"Speaking of which, why are you here?" asked Sam.  
"Clint and Natasha shared a look and Clint shrugged. "Like you said, she can't cook, and if I eat any more fast food, I'm not going to fit into my supersuit anymore."/p  
"So you just expect us to feed you?" said Sam, rolling his eyes.  
Natasha sighed and shut off the TV, coming over to sit next to Clint. "Feed us and I'll set you up with the receptionist at the vet center you've been drooling over for the last year," she said, drily.  
Sam looked over at Ava, who shrugged. "I didn't tell her. It's Nat, she knows everything," Ava said.  
Sam gave Natasha a long look, then shrugged. "Deal."


	10. Chapter 9

**And now for the real chapter! Just to give you some idea of a time frame here, the Triskelion fell in early April, and we're currently in mid-September. I'm also bringing in a couple familiar faces here, so don't be surprised. As always, I love reviews, or if you have any questions, feel free to message me and I'll do my best to answer them, without spoiling anything. Also, to preempt any questions, Ingrid Bergman was this absolutely gorgeous film star from the 1940s who is probably most famous for Casablanca, so google away if you want to get a better idea of what I'm imagining Ava looking like, though with a bit darker complexion.**

"I'm just saying, it feels like the end of an era," Ava said, firmly. "It needs to be commemorated somehow."

"Jesus Ava, you make it sound like we're never going to see him again," said Sam, jokingly. "Besides, you do realize he's only lived her for about five and a half months, right?"

"Still," Ava said, pressing her case. "It's been a good four and a half months. Besides, it's traditional to have a housewarming party," she said, turning towards Steve.

"I'm with Ava," Clint said from the couch.

"Of course you are," Natasha said, drily. "You're a fan of any event where you can get free alcohol."

Clint looked at her fondly. "You know me so well, my dearest arachnid," he said, deftly ducking the lazy punch she threw at him. "But I still vote yes."

"Don't I get to decide if I'm throwing a party or not?" Steve said, raising his eyebrows. "Pretty sure this isn't a democracy."

"Captain America isn't in favor of democracy?" Sam said, mockingly.

"Somewhere out there, a bald eagle just died," Ava said, grinning.

Steve rolled his eyes at the pair of them, ignoring the warm feeling in the pit of his stomach that Ava's smile caused. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with you two," he said.

"Because I saved your ass when Hydra wanted to kill you and fed you a fantastic breakfast," Sam said, pointedly. "Not to mention putting up with you for the last five and a half months."

"I quite literally saved your life too," Ava chimed in. "I'm pretty sure I get a vote for that one."

Steve looked over at them fondly. He'd finally found an apartment that he liked, so he was moving out on Friday. As happy as he was to have his own space and not be imposing on Sam anymore, he had to admit that he was going to miss having him around all the time. "Fine," he agreed. "We can have a party."

* * *

Steve opened the door and stopped breathing for a second. Ava stood on the other side, smiling and holding a wrapped box, and she looked fantastic. He was so used to seeing her the way she looked when she came over for dinner after work. She usually just wore leggings and the Captain America sweatshirt he'd loaned her the first time she had come over (she claimed it was more comfortable than any of the others she owned, though Steve was pretty sure she just wore it because she knew it embarrassed him.) She was always beautiful, but it was an understated kind of beauty, like she didn't need to prove it to anyone.

Tonight, however, she'd definitely dressed up. She was wearing a pretty and short green sundress that was made out of some kind of silky material that gently hugged her curves and ended at mid-thigh, with a pair of simple nude heels that emphasized the length of her legs. Her eyes looked huge, with her dress bringing out the green flecks in the hazel, and her face was surrounded by soft curls that looked almost old fashioned, like Ingrid Bergman. Looking at her face, he could almost believe she was a movie star from his army days, though the length of her dress was way more revealing than any hemline back then.

As he stared at her, her smile shrank. "Fuck, I look ridiculous, don't I?" she said, anxiously smoothing out her skirt.

"Don't be stupid," Natasha said coolly, slipping into the apartment around Ava. "You look fantastic. You should, since I picked out that dress myself."

"And I did her hair and makeup," Clint said proudly, following Natasha around Ava. When Steve turned to him to give him a questioning look, he shrugged. "I grew up in a circus. You learn things like that."

Steve finally realized how rude he was being and moved back, gesturing for Ava to come in. "I'm sorry," he said, embarrassed. "You look lovely, really. I just wasn't expecting it."

When Ava raised her eyebrows, he realized what he had said and hastily backtracked. "Not that you don't always look lovely. Not that I've been looking. I just meant that I'm not used to seeing you dressed up. Like this. I've only ever seen you in work clothes or normal clothes." He shut up, internally berating himself for his stupidity.

Luckily, Ava just laughed a little bit. "Yeah, I know. I feel kinda stupid, honestly, but Natasha and Clint showed up at my apartment and pretty much manhandled me into this. It's really hard to argue with international assassins, even when I objectively know that Natasha is highly unlikely to follow through with her threat of making me disappear if I don't put on the damn dress. Anyway. This is for you," she said, holding out the wrapped box.

Steve took the box from her, glad she had changed the subject. "You really didn't have to," he protested, aware that this argument wouldn't make a difference.

Sure enough, Ava just shook her head. "Don't be a dumbass. You and Sam have been great to me, and it's the least I can do to give you something for your new place. Besides, I still have to make up for stealing your favorite sweatshirt," she teased, giving him a mischievous look.

"I told you, it was a present from Tony!" Steve protested, laughing.

"Speaking of whom, should I be prepared to restrain my murderous urges tonight?" Clint said walking up, a beer in hand.

Steve shook his head. "He and Pepper are stuck in New York. Some hold up with rebuilding Stark Tower. Pepper sent a present anyway, though. She said to tell you that we were expected to come visit as soon as the tower was done."

Natasha shook her head. "Did she tell you what the holdup was, exactly?" she asked, a slight grin on her face.

"She just said there was some kind of problem and then swore under her breath a little," Steve said, looking quizzically at Natasha.

Natasha's grin grew a little bit wider, like a cat that just spotted a fat mouse. "Oh, you're going to love this," she said. "Apparently, Tony got pissed off because the contractors were taking so long, so he tried to program the suits to do the work instead. Unfortunately, while he may think he knows everything, apparently architecture and civil engineering aren't his strong suits, and he screwed up the programming, so the suits ended up just fucking up the work that the contractors had already done. Ruined a month's work in like three hours before someone realized what was happening," she said, grinning.

Ava snorted. "Wow. He sounds about as egotistical as he seems on television," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"You're not far off," Steve muttered under his breath, shutting up when Ava gave him a questioning look. "So, should I open this now?" he asked, holding up her gift.

Thoroughly distracted, she nodded shyly. "I hope you like it. It's just something… well, I thought you might like it," she said, blushing a little bit.

Steve sat down on the couch and quickly and efficiently unwrapped the present as she came to sit down next to him, watching his face eagerly. He opened the box, surprised to see a fancy-looking camera inside. He lifted it out and looked at Ava, questioningly.

"I know it might seem strange, but I just… I know you like drawing, but you already have all the sketchbooks and pencils you could possibly need, and I didn't want to get you something you'd get yourself, and I remembered that one day we were in the bookstore and you were looking in that photography book and you said that you wished you could do something like that? And I really think you could, you just needed a camera, so… I bought you a camera." She paused, searching his face. "If you don't like it, you can always exchange it for something else. I still have the receipt," she said, reaching for her purse.

Steve's hand darted out quickly to stop her from grabbing it. "I love it," he said softly. Ava looked up at him and found him staring at her, his eyes locked onto hers. "This… this is the most thoughtful gift anyone's ever gotten me," he said quietly.

Ava was frozen, staring into his eyes. The pair of them were so intent, it was like they were completely oblivious to anything else, including Natasha and Clint watching at them from over by the bar. "You'd better be ready to pay up," Clint said under his breath to Natasha, who just rolled her eyes.

"Anyone ever tell you not to count your eggs before they've hatched, Chicken Boy?" she murmured back, just as the doorbell rang, making Ava and Steve both jump guiltily.

"Well, I'm glad you like it," she said, standing up quickly.

Steve set the box down on the table, standing up as well. "Really, Ava, thanks," he said, blushing, and rushed to answer the door.

* * *

A half hour later, the party was in full swing. It wasn't huge, but it seemed like everyone was having a good time. Besides Ava, Clint, Natasha, Sam and Steve, there were some people from the vet center, including the girl from the front desk Sam liked, as well as a pretty blonde who Natasha had introduced as Sharon.

Ava grinned as she surveyed the room. If you didn't know better, you'd never know that there were four superheroes in the room, she thought to herself. Except for maybe Steve, who looked even more handsome than usual in a trim blue dress shirt that really brought out his eyes. He'd rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, showing off his muscular forearms. Her eyes caught on him as he talked animatedly with one of the guys from the vet center, Miles. Steve caught her eye and smiled, the returned to his conversation.

"It's just not fair for him to look that good all the time," said a voice from behind Ava, making her jump a little and almost spill her drink. She turned around to see the blonde Natasha had introduced her to earlier. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," the blonde apologized, smiling at her. "You're Ava, right?"

Ava nodded. "Yeah. You're Shannon, right?"

"Sharon," the woman corrected. Ava started to apologize, but Sharon waved away the apology. "Really, don't worry about it. Get two more of these in me and I won't remember my own name," she said lightly, holding up her drink, and Ava laughed, relaxing.

"So how do you know Steve?" Ava asked curiously, sipping.

Sharon paused for a beat before answering. "We used to work together," she finally said.

"At SHIELD?" Ava asked. She didn't know that much about Steve's time at SHIELD- he really didn't like to talk about it, so she tried not to push the topic, but she was still curious.

Sharon nodded. "Yeah. I was kind of like Steve's bodyguard for a while. And believe me, I do realize how stupid it sounds to say I was Captain America's bodyguard," she said drily.

Ava shook her head. "No, trust me, I believe you. He may be a superhero, but I swear that man doesn't have an ounce of self-preservation in his bones."

Sharon smiled at the irritated tone in Ava's voice. "Right, Natasha said you were the doctor who had to patch him up after the incident in April," she said.

"Well, I did what I could, at least," Ava said, modestly.

Sharon raised her eyebrows at her humble response. "From what I heard, you saved his life. Most people would brag a lot more about saving a superhero," she said, an unspoken question behind her words.

Ava shook her head. "Honestly, I operate on hundreds of people every year. When it comes down to it, everyone's the same when they're on the table. I just do my job. And besides, it's nothing compared to what he did that day," she said, looking over at Steve. "Or Natasha, or Sam, or any of the other people who brought down those helicarriers. They saved more people than I probably will my entire life."

Sharon looked at her quietly for a moment, surprised by her response, and Ava blushed. "Sorry," Ava said, grimacing. "Apparently, I have no filter tonight."

Sharon gave her a smile and raised her empty glass. "Let me get another one of these so I can join you there," she said. "You want another?" Ava nodded and handed her the glass she was holding, and Sharon walked over to the bar where Natasha stood, watching the two women speak.

Natasha raised a single eyebrow as Sharon walked up. "So?" she said, watching Sharon's face.

Sharon smiled and shook her head, starting to mix the drinks. "You were right. Steve doesn't have a chance in hell," she said.

Natasha nodded in agreement. "They're already practically in love with each other already," she said. "But neither of them will act on it. I swear, she's almost as oblivious to his feelings towards her as he is to hers."

"Trust me, I know how shy Steve can be," Sharon said, drily. "I lived next to him for a year and a half before he finally asked me out, remember?"

"I know," Natasha said, a little bit of a smile in her voice, and Sharon looked sharply at her.

"Natasha," she said, disbelievingly, "please tell me you and Clint don't have another bet going."

"Clint and I don't have another bet going," Natasha said, straight-faced.

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. What are the bets?"

"Clint says before six months, I said after," she said, grinning a little bit.

"Clint's fucked," Sharon said, mildly, and walked back over with the drinks.

* * *

The party was still going when Ava left around eleven, pleading her early shift at the hospital as her excuse to leave early. She was leaving Steve's new apartment when she saw the man curled up on the ground across the street. She paused, debating whether to check on him or just assume he had enjoyed his night a little too much. It was late, and she had an early shift tomorrow, she thought to herself. And this was a good neighborhood, so he'd probably be fine.

She sighed resignedly and walked over. "Are you okay?"

The man quickly jerked awake, looking up at her. Ava frowned and gave him an evaluating look, noting how gaunt and haunted he looked, his long brown hair in matted clumps against his scalp, as well as the lack of alcohol smell. Whoever he was, it didn't look like he was on the street by choice. "You don't look okay. You look like you need help." She reached out towards him and the man jerked backwards, his entire body tensed like he expected her to lash out at him. Ava stepped back, both hands raised. She noticed a faint glint at the point where his sleeve met his glove. Probably a prosthetic, she mused internally. And with that reaction, probably suffering from some kind of PTSD. He could even be a soldier, like Steve or Sam or her brother. Her heart twisted for a second, imagining any of them in the shoes of this poor man. Modulating her voice so it was the low, soothing voice she used to calm hysterical patients. "Okay, so you don't like to be touched. Don't worry, I won't touch you. Do you stay around her often?"

The man stared at her for a minute, wordlessly eyeing her, then slowly nodded.

"Okay then. I'm going to give you some money, okay? I don't want you to buy alcohol with it, but get yourself some food, okay? I'll come by here tomorrow with some real food." She reached into her purse and pulled out a ten dollar bill and laid it down on the ground, being careful not to make any sudden movements and keeping her eyes locked on hers. His eyes tracked her every movement, unsettlingly focused.

"If you need anything, I'm Dr. Harper, okay? You can give them my name in the hospital near here and they'll help you find me."

He continued to stare at her, giving no reaction in recognition of her words. Ava waited patiently, but when time had passed, she backed up three steps and then turned and walked away, careful not to turn around so he wouldn't feel watched. She waited until she had crossed the street before glancing over her shoulder, smiling when she saw that the man and the bill were both gone, resolving to come back the next day after her shift with some real food.

 **Yes, I know, I brought in Sharon, don't hate me. I actually really like Sharon's character a lot, but the idea of Captain America falling for the great-niece of his old girlfriend seemed a little twisted to me, and obviously I'm kind of attached to Ava. I'd like to think that after everything went down, they had coffee, chatted, and decided they were better off as friends. As for Hawkeye doing her hair and makeup, that was 3/4 because Jeremy Renner actually used to be a makeup artist, though I stand by the reasoning that growing up in a circus would definitely mean that he knows what he's doing.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hi guys! Sorry for the break between posts, but I've been super busy, so here's a nice long chapter to make up for that! Just to clarify the timeline here, this is about a month and a half after the last post. I know that this story's kinda time-hopping between chapters, and I've been debating adding in more in-between time but I don't want you all to get bored, so I'm thinking of doing a separate little series of one-shots that will fill in the gaps. So, if you want more detail about what's going on between chapters, let me know by reviewing or messaging me, so I know if that's actually something you want! Also, fair warning, this chapter is a little bit more PG-13 than my usual, though nothing explicit. As always, I am a deeply conceited person and I love reviews telling me how much you guys like this story, but I also really do want to know what you think, even if it's criticism or just something you'd like to see! (I make no promises about including stuff, but it never hurts to ask, guys!) Anyway, enjoy!**

"You're kidding me, right? A nazi-fighting archaeologist?" Steve said, his voice full of disbelief.

Ava leaned against the counter and gave him that wicked smile. "As opposed to a nazi-fighting artist from Brooklyn?" she said, her voice teasing. "Trust me, Grandpa. It's a classic." Her phone started ringing before she could say whatever (and no doubt sarcastic) comment was about to come out of her mouth next. She frowned at the screen, then answered it, walking into the kitchen.

Steve shook his head and started gathering up the dishes on the table. It had been just the two of them tonight since Sam was out of town and Natasha and Clint were busy with… actually, he didn't know what they were busy with, and probably didn't want to know. It had been happening a lot recently, since work at the vet center had been keeping Sam busy, and Clint and Natasha kept disappearing. Not that he was complaining; it was nice to spend time with Ava, even just as friends. He winced a little bit at that last thought, just like always, and walked into the kitchen just as she disconnected the call. Instantly, he knew something was wrong. It was in the line of her shoulders; they were hunched, like she was expecting a blow to fall on her. The hand not gripping the phone was locked onto the edge of the counter, fingers holding on so tightly that the knuckles were almost white in contrast to her skin. Quickly, he set down the plates and went over to her. "Ava? What's happened? Was that the hospital?"

She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, her beautiful eyes hollow, like the phone call had stolen her soul right out of her body. "No- it's- it's my brother. He-" she gave a little shudder and braced herself with both hands against the counter, then took a deep breath and pulled herself back together. "They're sending him back. He was on patrol, and an IED went off- he saved the guy he was patrolling with, but the bomb caught him instead. He's- he's stable, but- oh god, Steve, he lost his leg- I can't-" she started to sob uncontrollably, her whole body convulsing, and before he could think about it he had moved forward and pulled her into his arms. She resisted, just for a moment, trying to stop crying, and then folded into him.

Hesitantly, not wanting to push too hard, Steve gingerly raised his hand and started to softly stroke her hair, murmuring soft words of comfort into it. Gradually, the tears slowed to a trickle, then stopped, but they stayed locked together, neither quite ready to let go. Finally, Ava pulled away, wiping her wet face with the back of her hand. "Sorry about that. I don't know why I lost control like that. I mean, it's not like I'm the one who lost a leg. And he's not dead. It could be so much worse," she said, quietly, like she was trying to get herself to believe the words coming out of her mouth.

Steve passed her a tissue out of the box on the counter, eyes carefully turned downwards so she could compose herself. "But it's your brother, and you love him. Honestly, I'd be worried if you didn't cry." She snorted weakly at that, but took the tissue.

"Sorry about your shirt," she said with a forced smile, nodding at the large wet patch on the front.

He shrugged. "It'll dry." He gave her a measuring look. "You want to just crash here tonight?"

Ava frowned at him. "I'm not some damsel in distress, Steve. I don't need you to save me."

He blushed, ducking his head. "I didn't mean- it's just- I know it can be hard. When something like this happens. And you live alone. I thought- it might be good to know you have friends around you."

Ava's frown eased at his words. "Well… I guess that makes sense. I wouldn't want to be any trouble, though."

Steve shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course it's no trouble. You can have my bed, I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Steve, I'm not throwing you out of your own bed," Ava said stubbornly.

"You're my guest, and despite your arguments to the contrary, you are a lady. My mother would have killed me if she knew that I made you sleep on the couch," Steve argued, crossing his arms firmly across his chest.

Ava sighed. "I thought this place had a guest room, anyway?" she asked.

"I hadn't quite gotten around to furnishing it yet," Steve said, regretting that procrastination.

"Well, then I guess I'm going home, since I refuse to force you to sleep on the couch and you refuse to let me," Ava said, reaching for her jacket.

"Well, we could share the bed."

The words were out of Steve's mouth before he realized what he was saying. Instantly, he blushed bright red as Ava turned back towards him, her face shocked.

"I didn't mean like that! I just mean… it's a big bed. There's plenty of room. I just… I don't want you to be alone tonight." As Ava continued to stare at him, Steve turned an even deeper shade of crimson. "You know what, nevermind. I'm sorry. It was inappropriate of me to even suggest it."

Slowly, Ava set her jacket back down on the chair. "I mean, it's not really any different than sharing a bed with a girlfriend, or a sibling, right? Since we're just friends," she said, watching Steve's face carefully.

Schooling his face in a neutral expression rather than letting Ava see how much he disliked being compared to a sibling or a girlfriend, Steve nodded. "Of course. Strictly friends."

"It's not a big deal then, right?" Ava said then, half to herself, then nodded. "Okay. Sure. Thanks, Steve."

* * *

"Do you mind if I borrow something to sleep in?" Ava asked as they walked into Steve's room.

Steve nodded and opened one of his bureau drawers, pulling out the Captain America sweatshirt she had stolen from him, and Ava shot him an impressed look. "You son of a bitch, I knew you stole that when you came over two weeks ago. Shame on you," she said, teasingly.

Steve blushed a little, resolving not to tell her that he hadn't intended to keep it this long, but he loved how it smelled faintly like lavender. Which, coincidentally, was what Ava always smelled like. "You stole it in the first place," he said, not letting his embarrassing thoughts show on his face. "I was just reclaiming it. Do you want some sweatpants too?"

Ava shook her head. "No thanks. This thing's long enough it covers everything important. Besides, we're just friends. Shouldn't make a difference," she said, looking over at Steve with almost something like a challenge in her voice.

He just nodded in response and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Ava quickly stripped off her work clothes, standing only in her bra and underwear. She debated whether to leave the bra on or off, since she was sharing a bed with a guy, but comfort won out and she slipped it off and pulled on the sweatshirt just before Steve came out of the bathroom.

Carefully not looking at her legs, Steve gestured to the bed. "Do you want inside or outside?" he asked.

"Inside, if it's all the same to you," Ava said.

Steve nodded and Ava slipped under the sheets, shifting over to the inside so she lay on her side, facing the wall. Steve clicked off the overhead light and slipped in next to her, turning so his back faced hers, and the pair laid there silently.

 _This was a mistake,_ Steve thought to himself. _I made things weird. She probably thinks I just asked her to stay over so I could take advantage of her. Not that I would. Although her legs did look amazing… I just wonder what it would be like, running my hand along her legs. All the way from her ankles to her thighs._ Steve shook himself a little bit. _Not that it matters, because that's never going to happen._

Ava's thoughts flashed back and forth between guilt and thoughts that ran more in the direction of Steve's. _I shouldn't be in bed with him. I'm a fucking awful human being. My brother lost his leg today and all I can think about is how nice it felt to have him hold me. God, I wish he'd fucking do it again. Preferably in a romantic way, but I'm flexible._

"Steve?" she said finally, quietly, and felt him roll towards her on the bed.

"Yeah?" he asked, his voice soft.

"Is it weird for one friend to ask another friend to hold them in bed because they really need it right now?" Ava asked, feeling a little guilty.

Steve felt a little smile creep across his face, and was secretly glad Ava couldn't see it. He didn't want her to think he was happy about what had happened to her brother, after all. "I don't think it's weird at all," he said, moving closer to her until her back was pressed up firmly against his chest, and hesitantly wrapped his arm around her waist. "Is this okay?" he asked, cautiously, and he felt her nod in agreement.

Ava relaxed against Steve's chest, listening to the beat of his heart. Her breathing slowed as she fell asleep.

Steve, on the other hand, was wide awake. He was in a bed with a beautiful girl who wasn't wearing anything but a sweatshirt and underwear, and it had been a very long time since that had happened. Her hair tickled at his nose and he shifted, trying to ignore the intoxicating smell of her lavender perfume. In response to his movement, Ava made a soft, breathy little noise and shifted, pressing her ass tight against Steve's hips. Steve bit his lip, trying to think about anything other than how great she felt pressed up against him, and resigned himself to a very long night.

* * *

The next morning, Ava woke up slowly, her mind slowly returning from the dream she'd been having. Slowly, Ava opened her eyes and was shocked to find the sleeping face of Steve Rogers about three inches from hers. Belatedly, she realized that his arm was still locked around her, pressing her hips against his. One of his legs was between hers, and something hard was pressing up against her that was definitely not a gun in his pocket. Ava closed her eyes for a moment, regretting her decision to not accept Steve's offer of sweatpants. She tried to slip out of his hold, but when she started moving, Steve shifted too, pulling her tighter against him. His head moved closer, nuzzling along her neck, and he pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin just under her jawline. Ava felt goosebumps rise along her skin and she gave a brief involuntary shiver, feeling a familiar warmth start just below her stomach. She closed her eyes again and forced herself to breath calmly for a minute, regaining her self-control. It really had been a while… but that wasn't important right then.

"Steve," she said, softly, trying to wake him up. He didn't move, so she tried speaking a little louder. "Steve," she said, and Steve shifted again, the hand he had locked around her sliding further down her waist so it cupped her ass, pushing her hips so they lay flush with hers. Ava took a shaky breath and decided that she needed to stop being gentle before he made a move that made her forget herself, as the soft breaths tickling her neck were threatening to. "Steve Rogers!" she said, loudly. "You wake up right now!"

Steve slowly opened his eyes, wondering why he had to wake up when he was so comfortable, only to find Ava's pained looking face next to his. As soon as he registered the position he was in, and more importantly, what was going on between his legs, Steve half-killed himself trying to get out of the bed as fast as he could. He grabbed a blanket off the bed and held it in front of him, blushing bright red. "God, Ava, I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't do that on purpose," he babbled.

Ava was blushing a deep red too, though a small part of her was offended by how vehement his reaction was to finding himself in bed with her. It wasn't like she was ogre or something. "Really, it's alright," she demurred quickly. "We were both dead asleep. Not intentional."

Steve backed towards the bathroom, still holding the blanket in front of him. "I'm going to go take a shower," he said, inwardly noting that it was going to have to be a very, very cold shower. "The guest bedroom shower should work, and there's towels in the linen closet in the hallway," he said, hastily, and stepped into the bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. He stepped into the shower and turned it on, taking several deep breaths, and inwardly berated himself for what had just happened. He couldn't believe that he'd put her in such an uncomfortable position. And the worst part was, he was actually pretty sure he'd done intentionally. Or at least, subconsciously he had. He'd actually been dreaming about her, about lying in bed with her and kissing her and sliding off the sweatshirt she had been wearing and… other things. There'd actually been a brief moment when he woke up that he thought he was still dreaming, until he registered the uncomfortable expression on his face. He quickly and mechanically showered, his mind caught on his dream. He actually didn't remember the last time he'd had a good dream, let alone a full night's sleep without a nightmare. Although this morning had felt like enough of a nightmare without the added stress of an actual nightmare, he thought to himself.

Out in his room, Ava through herself back onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow on the bed. She didn't know what worse: how badly she'd wanted to let him keep touching her, or the horror on his face when he realized he was touching her. She groaned a little bit into the pillow and stood up, opting to grab her clothes and slip out before he got out of the shower and therefore avoid all of the awkwardness of Steve apologizing for what had happened. She quickly grabbed her clothes and changed, then slipped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind her. She walked over to the front door, grabbed her coat and had just started to shrug it on when a voice from Steve's couch startled her.

"Told you. Pay up, Nat."

Ava practically jumped out of her skin and spun around, shocked to find Natasha and Clint sitting on Steve's couch. Clint had a smug grin on his face as he wiggled his fingers in front of Natasha's face. Natasha stared at Ava for a minute, then took a long sip from the mug she was holding and smiled. "Nope. Not yet."

Clint snatched his hand back and scowled. "Nope. No way. She spent the night, for the love of god. And she's sneaking out, without showering. That's post-sex shame. I know post-sex shame. And those are the characteristics of post-sex shame."

Ava, red-faced, came out of her stupor at that. "We didn't have sex!"

Natasha gave Clint a smug smile as his mouth dropped open. "What? No! I won the bet!"

Ava's face grew even redder. "You BET on my sex life?"

Clint's mouth snapped shut, his face getting a little bit red. "Well, I mean… that's not important! If you didn't have sex, why do you have post-sex shame? Why'd you spend the night in his room?"

"I spent the night here," Ava said, almost spitting the words out in a combination of humiliation and anger, "because last night after dinner, I found out that my brother was hit by an IED and lost his leg. I was upset, and Steve didn't want me to be alone. Since his guest room isn't furnished yet, he made me take his bed, and I refused to let him sleep on his couch. But we did NOT have sex! We're just friends!"

Natasha's smug smile had disappeared as soon as Ava told them the news about her brother, and though she did catch the hesitation in her voice when she said the last statement, she resolved to leave that for later.

Clint's mouth had dropped open during Ava's speech. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, anxiously. "Shit, Ava, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Ava's face fell a little bit, her anger and embarrassment dissolving into guilt and sadness as she thought about what had happened to her brother and how poorly she'd handled the whole situation. She really was the worst sister in the world. "Yeah, well. There's no way you could have known."

Natasha shook her head, her face solemn. "We're super spies. We should have known."

"Well, technically, I'm mostly just an assassin," Clint muttered, then grunted when Natasha elbowed him in the ribs. "Not the point. Anyway. Is there anything we can do?"

Ava shook her head. "Not at this point. He should be arriving in the next couple days, as soon as he's stable enough for transport. I need to go start taking care of preliminary stuff, though," she said, glancing back towards Steve's room, a hint of her earlier blush returning as she remembered that she was trying to leave before he got out of the shower, and why. "Look, I really do need to run. Just… do me a favor and tell Steve that I had to run, and I'll catch up with him later?"

The pair nodded as Ava finished putting on her coat and pulled on her shoes. "I'll be by later," Natasha said, her tone making it clear that it wasn't a question.

Ava hesitated, then nodded appreciatively. "Thanks," she said, quickly, and left just as Steve's bedroom door opened.

Steve, wearing his running clothes and rubbing a towel on his wet hair, shot an unsurprised look at the pair on his couch. "I'd say I'm surprised you two are on my couch, but I'm really not. Is Ava still in the shower?" he asked, trying hard not to think about what her being in the shower entailed. The cold shower had helped clear his mind of what he'd been thinking about her, but the running shorts didn't hide much.

"She said she needed to get going and start working on the preliminaries for her brother coming home," Natasha said, reading volumes into Steve's attempt to keep his face and tone of voice neutral. She definitely needed to get the full story on what had happened from Ava later, she decided.

Steve nodded. "Right. Well, I need to go for a run, but you two are welcome to whatever's in the kitchen. As if you wouldn't help yourselves anyway. Or, if you can hold out long enough, Sam's making breakfast when we get back," he said, pulling on his sneakers.

"Do you normally shower before going on a run?" Natasha asked, sweetly, and Steve froze momentarily before finishing putting on his shoes.

"Didn't sleep well. Needed to clear my brain," he said, carefully, and quickly left before she could ask any more questions.

Clint looked over at Natasha and raised his eyebrows. "If they didn't have sex, they're both acting strange about something that happened last night," he said, sipping his coffee.

Natasha shrugged. "It'll come out eventually, whatever it is. Honestly, I'm surprised he was willing to share a bed with her, especially since they aren't actually together. You know how he is about these things."

Clint shrugged. "I think at this point, either of them will take any excuse to be close to one another."

Natasha snorted delicately. "Thank you, Lucy. Do I owe you five cents now?"

Clint elbowed her in the ribs. "Shut up, Romanoff. Don't act like you don't want them to get together just as much as I do. There's a reason you've agreed to leave them alone for so long, even though I know you're as sick of fast food as I am."

Natasha stretched like a cat and gave Clint a small smile. "Maybe I just don't want you bitching about how I'm interfering to make you lose our bet."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Like that's ever stopped you," he said, drily. "Come on, let's make some calls and find out some more about what's going on with her brother. It's the least we can do." When Natasha raised a single eyebrow at him, Clint sighed. "Fine, it's the least I can do. But you like her too."

Natasha's only answer was to reach into her bag and pull out her laptop.


	12. Chapter 11

**And, because I was feeling inspired tonight (and I'm procrastinating doing my real work), you get two chapters for the price of one! Honestly, writing Jack's reaction here to finding out his sister is pals with the Avengers is one of my favorite things that I've written so far for this story. I honestly just tried to imagine how I would react if I found out one of my siblings was friends with the Avengers, and just kind of went with it, so hopefully you guys are as entertained reading it as I was writing it! As always, please review and let me know what you think!**

Later that night, Ava returned to her apartment and gave a tired sigh when she saw Natasha sitting at her kitchen table with an open bottle of wine and two glasses sitting in front of her. She'd had a long day trying to get matters settled with bringing her brother home. The amount of paperwork required to facilitate her brother's transfer from the military hospital to civilian care was truly monumental, not to mention dealing with the rude man who treated her like she was some weepy civilian. She'd had to restrain herself from informing the asshole that she was smarter than he had ever been and that she'd like to see how he'd handle himself in the middle of a surgery, but shockingly, she'd kept her head and left without attempting murder.

She dropped her purse on the floor and kicked off her heels, then sat down next to Natasha and took a healthy swig of wine. Natasha's face softened minutely. "Long day?" she asked, her voice sympathetic.

Ava actually groaned at that. "I swear, if I have to fill out one more form…" She sighed, putting her feet up on the chair across from her. "I shouldn't complain. I've got it easier than my brother. But it's just so frustrating. Everyone stares at me like I'm about to start crying, like I'm not a goddamn doctor who _cuts people open_ on a regular basis. And then I remember that my brother is now lying in a medical facility in the middle of nowhere missing a leg and then I really do want to cry, which is stupid because I'm not one of those girls who cries at the faintest twinge of emotion, and I just feel so _useless_." She drained the rest of her glass quickly.

Natasha refilled it, her eyes sympathetic. "You know, it is okay to be upset. You love your brother, and he got hurt. It's normal to feel that way."

Ava snorted. "This coming from you? Natasha, you have nerves of steel. I don't think you've ever unintentionally shed tears in your life."

Natasha's face hardened a little bit at that, and she took a slow sip of wine. "Don't make me your point of reference, Ava. I'm about the farthest thing from normal."

"I know, I know, super spy master assassin. But still. I just feel so pathetic. I cried all over Steve's shirt last night like a child," she confessed, feeling embarrassment rise up at the memory.

Natasha's eyes narrowed minutely with curiosity. "So that's why he invited you to spend the night?"

Ava sighed. "Yeah. I shouldn't have said yes, though," she said, her voice tight.

"What happened?" Natasha said, raising her eyebrows.

"Nothing!" Ava protested, too vigorously. "I told you and Clint this morning!"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I know you two didn't have sex, but something happened. Unless there's another reason you tried to sneak out before Steve saw you? Or why he felt like it was necessary to take a shower before he went running, and then blushed every time your name was mentioned for the rest of the morning?"

At that, Ava blushed. "I'm sure that's an exaggeration."

"I don't exaggerate," Natasha said, patiently. "Spill."

"Is this an interrogation?" Ava asked, drily.

Natasha smiled a little bit at that. "No. This is a friend asking a friend," she said, softly.

Ava looked up in surprise at that. She'd spent enough time with Natasha to know that she wouldn't say those words lightly. She paused for a moment, then sighed. "It wasn't really anything. I just… when I woke up, Steve was holding me pressed up against him. And he was…. excited. I think he was dreaming about someone. Like, a sex dream. When I tried to wake him up, he started kissing me, and he pulled me closer." She hesitated for a moment, her blush rising as she remembered how good it had felt to have his hands and lips on her, then shook herself. "Anyway, as soon as he woke up, it was like he woke up with the girl from _The Ring_ in his bed. Practically flew across the room. That's it. It was just awkward for both of us."

Natasha watched Ava closely, internally shaking her head at how obvious it was that Ava was hurt by Steve's reaction when he'd realized who he was in bed with. "Was that all you wanted to happen?" she asked, careful not to push too hard. This might not have been an interrogation, but she still needed to be sure that she wouldn't spook Ava.

"Of course!" Ava said, her voice a little bit higher than normal. She cleared her throat. "After all, he was asleep. Letting him keep doing that… it wouldn't have been right. He didn't even know it was me."

Natasha had her own opinion on that, but she kept it to herself.

"Besides," Ava said, her voice guilty. "I should never have put myself into that situation. Climbing into bed with someone while my brother's suffering halfway around the world… I'm the worst sister ever."

"From everything you've told me about your brother, I think he'd be more amused than hurt," Nat said, kindly. "Which reminds me. Clint and I called in some favors, and we got Sam to help with his Vet Center contacts. You shouldn't have to deal with any more government forms. Your brother will be here in two days. He'll stay in your hospital for a couple days, then be transferred into your care."

Ava stared at Natasha, her mouth open. She choked out, a little tearfully, "You did that? For me?"

Natasha felt an unfamiliar warmth filling her at the other woman's reaction, though she kept her voice casual. "Least we could do. You've been feeding us for months, after all."

Ava shook her head. "I'll happily feed you for the next decade. Natasha, thank you so much."

Natasha rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I'll do you a favor and NOT tell Clint that you said that."

* * *

Ava paused in the doorway of her brother's room and bit her lip, trying not to cry when she saw him lying in the hospital bed. Even under his tan, he was pale, and dark circles lined his eyes. He still smiled broadly when he saw her, though. "Hey, kid," he said.

Ava gave him a weak smile. "Hey, meathead," she said, her voice shaky.

"Not going to cry on me, are you?" he said, his voice teasing but gentle. "Not that I don't mind having girls crying over me, but usually I prefer them not related to me. And prettier."

"Jerk," she said, her smile growing a little more real. She came over to the bed and sat down next to him. "How are you?"

"Like my leg got blown off by a bomb," he said, drily. "Can't complain too much though. It's nice being back in civilization. Pudding. Sympathetic and cute nurses. After all, it's not like I lost my most important body part."

Ava actually laughed a little bit like that. "Yeah, your brain's been missing since birth."

Jack sighed dramatically. "So cruel to a poor, wounded soldier boy," he said. "Worst sister ever."

Ava leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I'll smuggle you in some real food. Something that doesn't come from the hospital cafeteria. Will that work?"

He grinned. "As long as you make it, I'll take it. You might not be good at a lot of stuff, but you can give Dad a run for his money."

She shook her head. "I'm starting to regret that offer."

He grinned at her. "Come on, you know you love me." At her non-committal grunt, his smile grew wider. "So, tell me what's up with you."

Ava shrugged. "Same old. Work. All the time."

Jack groaned. "Ava, I've been stationed in the middle of nowhere, and I'm still pretty sure I have more of a social life than you do. Come on, there has to be someone."

Ava gave him a tiny grin and shook her head. "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Jack's eyes bugged out. "You're kidding! There's actually a guy?"

"Not like that! And you don't have to act so shocked, asshole," she said, lightly smacking his arm.

"I mean, can you blame me?" he asked, an innocent expression on his face. He paused, his face getting a little more serious. "But really sis. I worry about you."

"You're lying in a hospital bed missing a leg, and you're worrying about me?" Ava asked, incredulously.

Jack shrugged. "You're my kid sister. It's my prerogative."

"Wow, big word from the meathead," Ava said, a fake, proud look on her face. "Been reading the dictionary?"

"Bitch," he said, affectionately. "Just because I'm not the youngest doctor ever-"

"Youngest lead surgeon in a prestigious DC hospital," Ava interrupted.

Jack continued like she hadn't said anything. "Doesn't mean that I'm not smart."

"Whatever you say, meathead," she said condescendingly.

"And, speaking of being smart, I'm also smart enough to know that when you smile like that when you talk about a guy, he's more than a friend," he said, raising his eyebrows. "So when do I get to meet him?"

Ava shook her head. "He really is just a friend. And that's not going to happen any time soon."

* * *

Steve hadn't seen Ava for almost two weeks. Whenever he texted her, she just sent him quick, short texts saying she was busy and she appreciated the offer but she didn't need any help. It was driving him crazy. He wanted to apologize to her, tell her how sorry he was for what had happened that morning, but he didn't want to put any more stress on her. He'd had to settle for getting his information secondhand from Sam and Natasha and Clint.

He pushed himself through the last mile of the run and stopped, actually breathing hard. Sam came up a minute later and stopped next to him, giving him an amused grin.

"Dude, I can't remember the last time you ran that hard. You okay?"

Steve shook his head. "Fine."

Sam laughed. "Just go see her!"

Steve considered protesting that he didn't know what Sam was talking about, then decided it wasn't worth it. "She doesn't want to see me, Sam. I think she's made that clear."

Sam rolled his eyes as the pair started walking back towards Steve's apartment. "Look, Steve, she's probably just embarrassed. She's overwhelmed dealing with her brother. She needs a friend."

"You're all her friends," Steve protested.

Sam shook his head. "Not like you, man. I know you don't want to hear it, but you two have something special. Trust me. She could use the support."

"So what, you think I should just show up uninvited at her front door?" Steve asked, his tone doubtful.

"I think it's better that you make it clear that you're there to help if she needs the help than keep your distance because you don't want to make things more awkward," Sam said, frankly. He cracked a grin. "Besides, we're all sick of you asking us every five minutes if we know anything more. I think Nat's about two more questions away from putting you out of your misery."

Steve unlocked his front door, turning Sam's words over and over in his mind.

* * *

Later that day, Steve hesitated outside Ava's door, gathering his courage. He swallowed, then hesitantly knocked on her door, then quickly stepped back to wait for Ava to answer the door. A minute later, the door opened and Steve found himself looking at a handsome young man on crutches. Steve was thrown for a second before the young man's dark hair and hazel eyes registered, then the missing leg. He looked just like his sister.

"You must be Jack," he said, smiling.

"And you must be the mystery man my sister refuses to tell me about," Jack said, eyeing the man thoughtfully. "Come on in."

"I don't know about that," Steve demurred, shutting the door behind him as Jack awkwardly crutched his way over to the couch and collapsed onto it. Steve settled uncomfortably into the armchair next to him.

Jack gave him a familiar disbelieving look. "So you're not fucking my sister?"

Steve's jaw dropped open and he could physically feel the heat rush to his cheeks. "No! We're- I- we- cwe're just friends. That's all. Just friends."

Jack's face broke into a grin. "Easy there, man. I'm not going to tear into you. Not that I exactly could, in this state, anyway," he said easily, gesturing to his leg. "My sister's in the shower, but she should be out soon. So, friend of my sister's, how do you know her?"

"I actually used to be one of her patients," Steve admitted. "We ran into each other later, and just started spending time together. I'm a little… behind the times on pop culture, so she's been helping me to catch up on movies."

Jack nodded, thoughtfully, staring at Steve. Something about the guy was ringing a bell, but he couldn't place it. Maybe something his sister had mentioned. "So, if you're not with my sister, do you know who is? She won't tell me anything about her life here," he said, curious.

Luckily, Steve was saved from answering that question by the appearance of Ava as she walked out of her bedroom, her hair still wet from the shower. "Jack, who are you- Steve!" she said, freezing when she saw him sitting there. Steve popped up like a jack-in-the-box when she entered, Jack giving him an amused look.

"Ava, I'm sorry to barge in like this," he said, awkwardly. "Sam said you might need a hand."

Ava was frozen in place for a second before shaking herself. "Right. I'm sorry I've been so hard to reach recently," she said, uncomfortably. "It's just been so busy recently, with getting Jack settled and everything-"

"Really, don't worry about it. I completely understand," Steve said. "I just figured I should come by, see if there was anything I could do to help."

"Wait, Steve?" Jack interjected, suddenly realizing where he knew Steve from. "As in STEVE ROGERS?" He turned to his sister, his face shocked. "You're _Captain fucking America's_ personal pop culture consultant and you didn't fucking tell me?"

"It's not quite like that," Ava said weakly as Steve rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly.

"The hell it's not!" Jack said, his voice shocked. "Jesus Christ, Ava!"

"Maybe I should go," Steve said, edging towards the door.

"No way!" Jack protested. "Partly because you're Captain American and this is the closest I've ever been to a superhero, and partly because I have got to know the real story about how this friendship happened."

"Actually," Ava said, hesitantly. "You might as well know… Steve technically isn't the first superhero you've met."

Jack's eyes got even bigger. "WHAT?"

"The redhead? Nat? Black Widow. And Clint's technically Hawkeye. Oh, and Sam's the Falcon," she said, her voice intentionally nonchalant.

Jack looked like he was about to pass out. "So you're telling me that I've been hitting on the world's deadliest assassin? That I drank beer with fucking HAWKEYE? FUCKING FALCON MADE ME SCRAMBLED EGGS?" He shook his head, slowly, and slumped back against the couch. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"You drank beer with Clint?" Ava asked, frowning. "You know you're not supposed to be drinking while you're still on pain meds!"

Jack waved his hand vaguely at her sister. "It was just one beer. Also, I'm going to kill you for not telling me that you're besties with the Avengers, nerd," he said, his voice shocked.

"Not all of them. Just Sam, Natasha, Steve and Clint," Ava said, grinning a little bit in spite of herself.

Jack shook his head in disbelief. "I hate you," he said, his voice mock serious.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go?" Steve said, feeling uncomfortable.

Ava shook her head. "You can help me prep dinner, if you've got the time. Since couch potato here is good for nothing," she said, reaching over to ruffle her brother's hair.

He smacked her hand away, grumbling to himself about stupid kid sisters and their secret lives as superhero groupies.

"I'd love to," Steve said with relief, following Ava over to the kitchen where she started pulling out ingredients. He lowered his voice a little bit. "I'm sorry if I messed up things with your brother."

Ava smiled a little and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Honestly, I was going to tell him earlier, but then I got kinda curious to see how long it would take him to figure out who everyone was," she said. "I guess two weeks isn't that bad."

Steve nodded. "About what happened, before-"

"Don't worry about it," Ava said, firmly. "You were asleep, nothing really happened, it was awkward for both of us, and we'll just put it behind us."

Steve nodded gratefully, ignoring the small voice in the back of his head that was disappointed that the word she chose was just awkward. "Thank you. Really."

"Don't mention it," she said, flashing him a quick smile, internally wincing at the relief in his voice as he thanked her for ignoring what had happened between them. "So, want to go ahead and start slicing these up?" she said, handing him some peppers.

"My pleasure," he said, taking them from her. The two of them quickly settled into their normal dinner routine as Jack watched disbelievingly from the crouch at Captain America helping his sister make dinner like it was no big deal.


	13. Side Note

**So, this chapter isn't about Steve and Ava, but you will recognize the main character (besides Ava, of course). It's set between chapters nine and ten (Steve's party and the chapter where Ava finds out about her brother). I was going over my plan for the story and realized I hadn't put in some information that I'd need later for a plot point, so I'm putting it in now as sort of a side chapter. Skip it if you want, but fair warning, it'll probably come back to bite you on the ass later, since as I said, this chapter is kinda necessary for the story later on down the line. It's a little fluffy, but I think it gives you a little more insight into Ava's character as well. Hopefully, this will only be a one-time interruption in the storyline, though. I might do a couple short stories every now and then about the other main character here, but I'll post those separately. As always, reviews are my favorite things!**

The next day after she got off work, Ava went back to Steve's building. She paused on the sidewalk where she'd seen the homeless man yesterday, but couldn't see him anywhere. "He's homeless, you idiot," she said to herself, irritated at her own stupidity. "Just because he took your money doesn't mean he was actually going to wait around for your help."

Ava sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She debated waiting around to see if he would show up, but she was already late to get to Steve's for dinner, and she didn't have any guarantee that the guy would show up. She hesitated, then walked over to the gap between the two apartment buildings across the street where she'd seen the guy sitting last night. She set the lunchbox she was holding on the ground and pulled out a notebook from her purse, wrote a quick note and tucked it under the handle. She looked around one last time, then crossed the street to Steve's apartment and went inside.

The soldier watched from the fire escape in the alleyway across the street as the doctor looked around for him. She didn't have a particularly effective search method, but he shifted a little bit farther back into the shadows anyway. He'd been stupid, allowing himself to be seen the other night, but he hadn't had an opportunity to eat and he'd allowed his weakness to get to him. He'd been lucky she had been the only one who'd seen him, not the target. Or the red-headed woman who sparked something in the back of his mind, the same sort of pain that the target had brought forward on the bridge of the Helicarrier. He'd been avoiding the other two as well, the man with the wings and the assassin who was better than the others at looking around him. He'd had to be careful when that one was around: he actually thought he'd been spotted once by him, but he'd managed to disappear quickly enough that the man hadn't been able to get a good look at him.

He watched carefully as the brunette ran her fingers through her hair, then shifted position over to the alleyway he had been sitting in yesterday. She set down the red bag she was carrying, then pulled a notebook out of her purse, scribbled something down and set it down on top of the bag. She looked around again, then crossed the street to the target's building and entered it. The soldier waited fifteen minutes to ensure that she wouldn't return, then silently slipped down from the fire escape and crossed the street to the bag. He scanned it quickly to ensure there weren't any obvious traps, then scooped it up and retreated to his usual spot on the roof of the building across the street from the target's building.

Once on the roof, he gave the package a more thorough check, then opened up the note and quickly scanned it.

 _Hope you get this food. If this is the man who I helped yesterday, I'll be back tomorrow with more food. Like I said, my name is Dr. Harper. You can find me at George Washington Memorial Hospital if you want to contact me, or if you need help._

The soldier stared at the note, searching for a trap in the words. The invitation to find her seemed suspicious, but why would she offer up information about her name and location? It was stupid to give that information to a stranger, especially since he knew it was true, since he'd followed her when she first began interacting with the target. Hesitantly, he reached for the red bag and opened it. Inside were multiple plastic containers full of food, as well as a fork and knife, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a small travel bottle of shampoo and soap. The soldier opened each of the food containers and sniffed each of them, trying to discern any toxins, but he didn't smell anything but spices and the food itself. His stomach growled at the smell of the food. The soldier hesitated, but nothing seemed wrong with it, and the food seemed much better than the garbage scraps he usually ate. He took a single bite from the first container and his eyes almost rolled back in his head with enjoyment. He controlled himself, then devoured the rest of the food as quickly as he could, only moderating the speed to ensure he did not make himself sick.

* * *

Ava didn't even bother looking around when she dropped off the food this time. It had been almost two weeks of her dropping off food, and she still hadn't seen the man since that first night. She honestly didn't even know if it was him who was eating the food, but the lunchboxes had been showing up empty in the same place the day after she'd dropped them off, so someone was eating it and returning them. She'd talked to Sam about him briefly, only mentioning that she'd recently met someone who she thought was an ex-soldier who seemed to have really aggressive PTSD and she was trying to help him. Sam had warned her that it could actually be dangerous to her, that the ex-soldier might be unable to distinguish reality from his memories of war and that's why he was hiding from her. Ava understood his worry, but she couldn't stop the voice in the back of her head that kept reminding her that she became a doctor to help people, and this man definitely needed her help.

She set down the bag and straightened up, then nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the man standing in front of her. He looked the exact same as the first night she'd seen him, though she noticed with a bit of pride that his face had filled out a little bit since then. It didn't look like he'd used any of his other gifts though, she noted. She waited for him to speak, but when he didn't respond, she asked him, hesitantly, "Hi there. How are you doing?"

The soldier stared at her. He'd debated whether or not to show himself, but after fourteen days, she hadn't shown any signs of entrapping him, and he had decided that he needed to know why she wanted to interact with him. It was a tactical decision, in order to determine her motives so he could decide how to proceed. He processed her question, then answered, slowly. "I am functional."

Ava's eyes widened at his answer. She wasn't exactly sure what she'd been expecting, but the soft Brooklyn accent was definitely at odds with his rough appearance and the odd answer. "Functional? Were you hurt before?"

The soldier stared at her, unblinking. Was she attempting to determine a weakness? "I am no longer hurt."

Ava frowned at that. "You should have told me, I could have treated you. Can I see it, to make sure it healed properly?" She stepped forward, hand outstretched, and the man instantly tensed up and quickly backed up.

Ava stopped instantly. "Right. Sorry. I forgot you don't like to be touched." The man stared at her unblinkingly and she eyed him, carefully. "Why haven't you used the shampoo or soap I gave you? Or the clothes?"

The man's mouth twisted, minutely. "Nowhere to get clean. Didn't want to wear them while dirty."

Ava felt something inside of her twist with pity for him. He seemed so lost, but it was clear he was still trying to hold onto some semblance of dignity. "Do you want to use the shower at my place?" she blurted out without thinking, then inwardly cringed. What the hell had she been thinking? She'd just invited a strange man to her apartment, someone who Sam had warned her might be dangerously delusional.

The soldier stared at her, rapidly trying to determine her intentions. An invitation to her apartment was an obvious trap, almost too obvious, in fact. As well, he'd scouted her apartment, and it was a terrible place for a trap. There were lots of windows, all of her neighbors were citizens, and it was in a nice neighborhood, so any sort of large disturbance would have a fast police response time. He'd noticed her flinch minutely as well after she issued her invitation as well, which didn't make it seem like she had thought out the invitation ahead of time. And even if it was a trap, he was confident in his abilities to escape, and going would give him definite knowledge of her intentions. He thought about it, then nodded, once. "Yes."

Ava sighed, regretting her decision, but decided she couldn't well rescind the invitation. Besides, she knew her apartment, and she could easily get away and call 911 if she needed to. "Okay, follow me," she said, turning in the direction of her apartment.

* * *

The soldier looked around when they entered the apartment. He'd been in her apartment before, to search it for any signs of attachment to an organization that could pose a threat, but had come up clean. He quickly surveyed it for any changes or signs of anyone waiting for them, but it looked the same as it had when he'd searched it.

Ava paused near the hallway leading to the bedrooms and pointed towards the guest room. "There's a shower in the bathroom attached to that room. I'll make some food while you're in there. You look like you could use it," she said, sympathetically.

Bucky nodded and walked to the guest bedroom, then paused, something half remembered making him stop. "Thank you," he said, hesitantly.

Ava's eyes widened at that, but she gave him a small smile. "You're welcome," she said, feeling a little bit more secure.

The soldier nodded, then walked into the bedroom.

* * *

Half an hour later, he walked out into the kitchen. She looked up and stopped for a moment, surprised at the change in his appearance. His hair and beard were neat and clean, and he was wearing the fresh clothes she'd given him. His eyes were still haunted and he still wore the leather gloves, but he looked more… human. She gave him a smile. "You look much better." She set a plate down and gestured to it. "Go ahead, eat up. I'll join you in a minute."

Hesitantly, he nodded and sat down in front of the plate. He eyed it cautiously for a minute, then dug in and started wolfing it down as quickly as possible. Ava raised her eyebrows, then finished filling her plate and sat down across the table from him. "So," she said, between bites. "What can I call you?"

The soldier froze, and stared at her. He'd never had anyone call him anything other than the subject, or the weapon, or the winter soldier. Or sergeant. He'd never needed a name before now.

Ava saw the look on his face and felt that familiar twist in her gut. The man didn't seem to have any memories, even his name. "How about I just pick something?" she offered, hesitantly.

The soldier nodded, slowly.

"Okay then. Well, at the hospital, when we don't know who someone is, we call them a John Doe. Can I call you John?"

The soldier considered it, turning the name over in his mind. _John_. It didn't fit exactly, like the clothes she'd given him, but it was… his. Something given freely, not something forced on him. A gift. _John_. He could be a John. He turned to Ava, who was watching him, nervously. "I like John."

Ava felt something loosen up a little bit at his reaction, and she smiled at him. "Good." She took a few more bites, then looked over at him, hesitant again. "I get the vibe you don't really like to talk, but I'd like to help you, and I can't help you if I don't know anything about you. So I'm going to say things, and you can just nod yes or no, okay?"

John looked at her, considering her offer, then nodded. She wasn't ordering him, and she had no real power over him. He didn't have to answer if he didn't want to, after all.

Ava considered her questions, then decided to go ahead and dive in the deep end. "Okay. So, you used to be a soldier, right? I noticed your prosthetic." John hesitated, then nodded. "Okay, that's what I thought. I think you might be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Do you know what that is?" John shook his head. "Basically, it affects your memory, among other things. I think that might be what might be causing any… issues you're having with adjusting to civilian life. It's possible it was triggered by the Triskelion falling earlier this year. Do you remember that?"

John froze, caught in the memories of the explosion, the target pinned down underneath him on the bridge, the explosions, plummeting into the freezing water-

"Whoa, easy there, John," Ava said, nervously. He shook himself, reminding himself where he was, and opened his fist, revealing the half crushed fork. Ava stared at it, wide eyed. "So, I'm going to take that as a yes," she said, nervously. Deliberately, John nodded. Looking at his empty plate, Ava reached for it and asked, "So, you want more? You inhaled that." John nodded, almost eagerly, and Ava smiled at him. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said, refilling it and passing it to him along with another fork.

John eagerly dug in as Ava set back down next to him. She looked at him and asked, "So… I need to know this. Do you want my help?"

John slowly chewed the huge bite he had just taken, thinking about that question. He didn't need help. He was the winter soldier. He was the help. But… he wasn't the winter soldier anymore. He wasn't anyone anymore. She'd never tried to trap him or asked for anything in return for his help. So he nodded.

Ava gave him a real smile at that. "Okay. If you want my help, you have it. Do you want to stay here? I have the guest room."

John shook his head. He couldn't be that dependent on her. He couldn't be that dependent on her.

Ava eyed him, carefully. "Do you want me to help you find a job?"

John hesitated, then nodded.

Ava nodded in response. "Okay. A job. I can work with that. Do you have any experience, besides the military?"

John shook his head.

Ava ran her fingers through her hair, her face thoughtful. "Okay, so no real experience, and you aren't exactly chatty, so nothing in customer service. Probably not suited to an office either, I'd guess." She paused, thinking, and her face suddenly lit up. "Do you like animals? Like dogs and cats?"

John paused, thinking about that. There had been no animals at the compound where they kept him, but since he'd left, there had been animals on the street. When he found strays with collars, he delivered them home, or at vet offices. He liked animals. They survived, only attacked when threatened, or if their resources were threatened, but they weren't intentionally cruel. He nodded.

"Great! That's actually perfect. I have a friend, she owns an animal shelter, and she owes me more than a few favors. You won't exactly have a 401K, but she'll probably be willing to pay you under the table, so you don't have to formally be part of the system before you're ready, and I'm sure we can find you some place to live," Ava said brightly, her mind already going a hundred miles a minute.

John nodded, then said, slowly, "Thank you. For helping me."

Ava looked over at him and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I have a brother in the service. I'm just doing for you what I would want anyone to do for him.

* * *

Despite Ava's protests, John left after dinner, though not before she pressed several blankets on him and another change of clothes. The next day, however, he was waiting for her outside the hospital when she got off work. Ava smiled when she saw him, still looking neat, and gestured to her car. She drove them to the animal shelter where her friend worked, telling John about what to expect as he stayed silently and occasionally nodded. The pair eventually pulled into a small parking lot with a cute low building painted a cheerful blue with white trim.

They got out of the car and the front door opened and an older woman came out, beaming at Ava. "Dr. Harper!" she exclaimed, sweeping her into an engulfing hug. She pulled back, holding Ava at arm's length, and frowned. "You're too skinny! You work too much, sweetie," she said disapprovingly.

Ava smiled and backed away. "You always say that, Katherine. And I told you, call me Ava." She turned and gestured John forward from where he'd been hanging up by the car, a wary expression on his face. "This is my friend, John. The one I told you needed a leg up."

John hesitantly moved forward, grateful that the woman didn't go for hug but only eyed him appraisingly. "He's a handsome one, isn't he, Ava? If I were ten years younger…" When Ava raised her eyebrows at her, she laughed. "Okay, maybe more like twenty. Anyway, honey let's see how you do with the animals," she said, leading the way into the building and talking over her shoulder. "Ava said you needed a place to stay, as well?"

John nodded and Katherine beamed at him. "Strong and silent type, huh? I like that. I talk enough for both of us. There's a room in the back you can have, if this works. It's not much, just a bed and a few pieces of furniture, but you don't seem like you need a lot." Katherine paused outside a door, barking coming from the other side. "Fair warning, there's a lot of them. You ready?" John nodded, and the trio walked into a room full of dogs of all shapes and sizes. They crowded around the three people and Ava instantly knelt down, greeting most of the dogs by name and petting as many as she could get her hands on. They approached John more hesitantly, sniffing at his gloves with a hint of fear, but they warmed up as John waited patiently, not moving. Eventually, a brave little corgi walked directly up to him and flopped on its back, four little paws waving in the air as it looked expectantly at John. Slowly, John reached down and gently scratched his belly, unaware of the small smile growing across his face as the other dogs crowded around, demanding his attention.

Ava watched with a shocked expression at the smile growing across John's face. Katherine leaned over and murmured in her ear, "You know, I've always been a sucker for a boy who's good with animals."

Ava smiled and shook her head. "Katherine, you are old enough to be that boy's mother," she said reprovingly, then hesitated. "At least, I think you are."

Katherine looked over at her curiously. "You really don't know anything about him, do you? Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Ava hesitated, then nodded, watching the smile on John's face grow as a huge Great Dane licked the side of his face. "Yeah. I know I don't know much about the guy, but… I just have a feeling, you know? Like he just needs a hand. He won't talk about it, but I think something bad happened to him." She shrugged. "I just look at him and think about how if my brother was in his shoes, lost, with no memories… I'd want someone to help him."

Katherine looked at her, affectionately. "You're a better person than most, sweetie. With this, and what you've done for me, not to mention what you do… you really do want to help people."

Ava shrugged, shyly. "I do what anyone would, Katherine. You help people too."

Katherine turned back to look at John crouched on the ground, surrounded by animals. "I try, sweetie, but I can only do so much. Your friend though… I think he and I will get along fine."


	14. Chapter 12

**Yeah, I know, I've been terrible about updating. Please don't try to burn me at the stake. It's been crazy, but I at least have this much for you! And I PROMISE there will be more chapters soon.**

 **But, on a more positive note, we're finally moving along with the plot, so there's that, at least! There's a good Ava and Cap moment, and some major bro bonding going on with Jack and Sam and Clint, with a little Clintasha nod in there too. And I'm bringing in one of everyone's favorite Avengers, just in time for Civil War (though that's a long way in the future for my storyline, and as everyone who read the Bucky chapter might have guessed, it's not going to be the same. But like I said, that's a long way down the road.)  
**

 **Anyway, as always, I love reading your reviews, so please please please let me know your thoughts!**

Jack reached down to rub at the line where the prosthetic met the skin for the eighth time in the last half hour, making Sam frown. "You okay, man?" he asked, concerned look on his face.

Jack waved him off. "Come on, dude, I'm fine. It's just this damn thing. Not used to it yet, I guess," he said, his smile looking more like a grimace.

Sam frowned at him. "You do realize that if you fuck yourself up further by ignoring something, your sister will kill me, right? The woman who strikes fear into the heart of Captain America when she's mad?"

"She scares me even when she's not mad," Clint quipped, walking over with a new round of beers. "Reminds me too much of Nat. I think it's because they're both so short. Means their anger is more concentrated."

"What's your excuse for Hill then?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows.

Clint gave him a Cheshire cat grin. "Hill's not so bad. You just have to know how to handle her," he said, smugly.

Sam raised his hands at that. "Dude, I did not need that image. And I hope you know that I am definitely telling her you said that. See how well you can handle her then," he said, watching Clint's grin rapidly disappear.

"Come on, man, don't sell me out like that," Clint said, his half-joking tone belayed by the distinct look of fear in his eyes.

Jack raised his eyebrows at their exchange. "Wait, who's Hill? I thought you and Nat were a thing, man."

Sam laughed. "He wishes," he said, grinning.

Clint shot him a glare. "Nat and I are partners," he said, vaguely.

"That is a cop out answer, and you know it. Come on, dude. You and Natasha sleeping together or not?" Jack said, signaling to the waitress for another round of beers.

"Not," said Clint, firmly. "We did for a while. But things… they got complicated. We're both spies. It was compromising our ability to carry out missions. We were more concerned about each other than our objectives. We had this mission in Mexico. It was supposed to be something small, just escorting a SHIELD prisoner needed for questioning from one location to another. But everything went to hell, like always, and the local gang tried to free the guy. I spotted a guy aiming for Nat, and I managed to hit him hard enough to change the direction of the gun. He hit the guy we were supposed to be transporting instead, killed him right away. Total mission failure, lost a source of valuable intelligence, all because I too worried about Nat. Fury had some words to say about that, that's for damn sure." Clint gave them a wry smile. "Anyway, after that, we decided things would be better if we kept it simple between us. Took some time off from each other. She got sent to babysit Tony Stark, I got sent to the Middle East. Since then, we've just kept things platonic." He took a long sip of beer, ignoring the surprised expressions on the other two men's faces.

Jack was the first to speak. "Dude. That sucks."

"Yeah, man, seriously. I had no idea things were like that between you two," Sam said, sympathetically.

Clint groaned. "We're going to start braiding each other's hair and doing each other's nails if this keeps up," he said, finishing off his beer.

Sam gave him a half-amused look. "You like braiding hair, dude."

"Irrelevant. This isn't a slumber party, and I fully intend to get our waitress's phone number before the end of the night," he said, wryly. "And that's not going to happen if you both keep staring at me like I'm a goddamn wounded puppy."

"I don't know, man, I'm pretty sure I'm the one she's been eyeing all night," Jack said smugly, reaching down to the area where his prosthetic met his real leg again, wincing when he hit it.

"In your dreams," Sam said, noticing his motion and reaction but deciding not to say anything, figuring pressing the subject would just make him defensive.

"We'll just have to see," Clint said, giving the waitress his most winning smile as she walked up with a new round of beers.

* * *

The next day at the VA, Sam pulled Steve aside when he came in. "Hey, I think there's something you should know about," he said quietly.

Steve instantly stiffened, and his eyes started darting around, looking for a threat. "What happened?" he asked, his voice quiet but urgent.

"Easy there, Cap. Nothing life threatening. I just think that Ava's brother's having a problem with his prosthetic."

Steve relaxed a little, but frowned. "Ava mentioned something about that to me the other day. She thought it seemed like he was in pain, but when she asked him about it, he said he wasn't having any problems."

Sam shook his head. "He's definitely having problems. We were out at the bar last night and he kept rubbing at it and grimacing. I've seen this thing with other vets. They figure there's not really anything they can do about it or they don't want to be seen as weaker that they already are, so they don't say anything, even though it keeps hurting."

Steve's frown deepened. "What should I do? I know he and Ava are pretty close, but if he won't talk, he won't talk."

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, man. I mean, the fact of the matter is, the standard prosthetics they usually give vets aren't that great. And I'm pretty sure Ava's family's pretty well off, from what I can tell, but I doubt they have the kind of money needed to step them up the line for a nicer one."

"Maybe not," Steve said, thoughtfully, "but I think I know someone who might be able to help. Thanks for saying something, Sam."

Sam shrugged. "Taking care of veterans is kinda my job, man. Besides, I like Ava, and her brother's a good guy. There's only so much I can do, but I figure at least this way I won't be the only one who knows what's going on."

"I'll see what I can do," Steve said, already knowing who he would need to call and inwardly wincing at the prospect.

* * *

"Tony, I've got a favor to ask."

Tony raised his eyebrows, a mockingly serious expression on his face. "Yessir Captain sir, what can I do for you Captain sir?"

Steve gritted his teeth, feeling the familiar surge of annoyance that always seemed to accompany a conversation with his "teammate". "Well, it's not a favor for me, exactly. But I would greatly appreciate your help with this matter."

Tony quirked an eyebrow at that, looking mildly intrigued. "A favor for someone else? Obviously not one of us, since they would have just asked me themselves, which means as far as I know, your one non-Avenger friend. So Steve, does this favor happen to be for your lady doctor friend?" he asked, putting as much lewd suggestion behind that last word as possible.

Steve reddened, but kept his temper in check. "Yes, Tony, it's a favor for Dr. Harper."

Tony crowed, smugness radiating from every pore. "Ha! I knew it! So what is it? Love nest? Recommendation for the best place to buy lingerie for her? Sex tips that aren't from a Cosmo from the 1940s? You do realize this means I have to actually meet her, right? I don't do favors for people I don't know. Bad things tend to happen. Though that wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't sent _Natalie_ to threaten my perfect and extremely valuable body with great harm if I didn't stay away from her." He scowled a bit at this last bit, clearly still bitter about Natasha's warning that she would use all of her (ample) powers to make his life a living hell if he started harassing Ava.

Steve made a mental note to thank Natasha for that again and bit his tongue, controlling himself before he spoke. "None of the above, since she is only a friend, and even if I needed sex tips, I wouldn't come to you. It's actually her brother. He's a veteran, just got back from Afghanistan. He was hurt in an IED blast. Saved his patrol partner's life, but lost a leg in the process. I just- I knew you had Stark Industries working on that project for replacement limbs, and I was hoping you could set something up for him. All he has is the basic prosthetic, and apparently it's causing him a lot of pain. He won't admit it to his sister, but he told Sam when he was at the Vet Center, and- well, I just figured I'd ask. I looked in to what I could do for him, but there's not really any options available to him that don't have waiting periods of a few years, at least."

Tony's face shifted from mocking amusement to a thousand-yard stare any combat veteran could recognize in an instant. His own experiences with IEDs had been memorable, to put it in the best light, and he had a special kind of sympathy for wounded veterans. He seemed to feel that it was his responsibility, since he had armed so many of them (and unwittingly, many of their enemies). He nodded, uncharacteristically quiet. "Yeah, of course, Steve. I'll do what I can. What's his name?"

"Jack Harper. Thanks, Tony. This… well, it means a lot." Tony nodded again, his mind already fixed on the problem Steve had given him. Steve was reaching for the screen to end the video chat when Tony spoke, his voice full of renewed attitude.

"Bring him and your lady doctor around the tower on Saturday around 5, I'll have something drawn up by then. I'll send the plane for you, and I'll get Pepper to email you the details. That's the thing that's like a letter, but faster and on a computer," he said, snarkily. "And don't even think of trying to figure out a way to keep her away. That's my one condition for doing this: I want to meet Captain America's twenty-first century dame!"

Steve briefly considered flashing Tony his middle finger before controlling himself and sighing. "Sure, Tony, you got it."

* * *

Ava's face when he told her the news was worth all the shit he knew he'd be getting from Tony for the next few weeks (months, years, decades…). "You're fucking with me, Steve. Tony fucking Stark is doing this for my brother? I can't… I mean, god Steve, how can I possibly thank you enough? This means so much to me. Really. I don't know what to say. This is- this is fucking amazing. Seriously."

Steve felt the familiar flush rise into his cheeks under her rush of gratitude. "Really, Ava, it was nothing. I'm not even the one doing all the work, it's all Tony. I just asked."

She shook her head at his self-deprecating words. "But you asked, Steve. Really. Thanks."

He blushed again and ducked his head self-consciously. "Well, ma'am, you saved my life, so I feel like it's the least I can do."

She laughed at that. "Come on, Steve, it's been eight months. You know better than to call me ma'am." She beamed at him, then half threw herself at him, catching him off guard. Neither of them were usually big on the whole physical displays of affection thing, and this was the first time he'd really held her when he wasn't half asleep, she hadn't just found out her brother lost a leg, and she wasn't drunk. Which was a shame, he thought reflectively, because she really was perfect for hugging. The top of her head tucked neatly under his chin, and her hair smelled lightly of lavender, and her body was so warm, pressed up against him tightly- shit. He quickly let go and stepped back, shifting so his lower half was hidden by the counter. "Tony's one condition for doing it was that he wants to meet you. Both of you that is," he said quickly, trying to cover up his slip before she asked why Tony Stark would want to meet just her. "Do you mind? He wanted you and Jack to come by Saturday afternoon so he could go ahead and fit him."

"Saturday? That fast?" She shook her head disbelievingly. "Well, I guess they don't call him a genius for nothing. Yeah, sure. I'm off Saturday after noon, so that's perfect. Are we meeting him at the hospital or here? Or somewhere else?"

Steve grinned a little bit. "Stark Tower, in New York. He's sending his private plane for us."

Ava's eyes widened a little bit. "Damn. Tony Stark's personal plane. Ten bucks says there's stripper poles," she said, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Steve muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.


	15. Chapter 13

**Here's the promised chapter, and thanks for all the reviews from the last one letting me know how much you missed the updates! It really makes me want to write even more. Special thanks goes to abstract0118 again, who has managed to review almost every single chapter so far. Now, for all the people who are ready for Ava and Steve to just get on with it and get together, I beg patience. I know that while it's obvious to me, all of you, and every other character in this story, I think it's important that they have a good base for their relationship before they dive in. Canonically, Steve's not the type to rush into relationships, and they both have some issues that mean that they take their relationship slow. I'm trying to write a realistic relationship for them (or as realistic as possible in a world with superheroes) and I think that part of that means that if any relationship between them is going to last through the issues they're going to eventually face, their romantic relationship has to have a basis of friendship first. That being said, I promise your patience will pay off, since (as you'll see in this chapter) things are finally starting to come together between them. Hope you like it, and as always, please review!**

"So, do I look okay to meet a genius billionaire superhero?"

Steve turned and felt his jaw drop. Ava always looked beautiful, but today she looked… well, hot. She was wearing a neatly cut black pencil dress. Plain as it was, it highlighted each and every one of her curves. Her hair was neatly pulled back into a loose chignon, curls artfully dripping, and she was wearing a pair of heels that were even more ridiculously tall than her usual pairs, but they emphasized her ass in a way that almost seemed indecent. She almost reminded Steve of Peggy. Ava had the same sort of beauty and confidence that seemed to imply that no man could ever measure up to her. This wasn't the woman he spent movie nights eating popcorn with; this was a woman who could kill a man with those heels and he'd thank her kindly for the privilege.

Ava blushed, but grinned smugly at the look on Steve's face. "Yeah, I know. I asked Nat for advice and this is what she set me up with. It's not too much, is it?" she said, a little edge of self-consciousness behind her words.

Steve felt almost relieved when he saw that grin. She might look even more intimidating and beautiful than usual, but she was still his Ava. He shook his head at that thought, pulling himself together. Ava wasn't his. He knew that. Even if he would kill Tony if he tried to lay a single finger on her. "God, no. That's- you're perfect. It's perfect. You'll terrify him. He might fall in love with you, though, which I'd avoid if you can. Pepper is rather possessive."

Ava's grin grew even wider at that. "Well, damn, there go my plans for marrying rich so I could retire early and be some the rich bastard's trophy wife."

"There's still time, little sis," said Jack drily, coming into the room behind her. "And trust me when I say if you can't catch some poor rich bastard in that getup, you'll never catch one. You're somewhere between business partner and high class prostitute, which I feel like is every poor rich bastard's dream. Even if the rich bastard in question is Tony Stark."

Ava playfully swatted at her brother, missing by a wide margin. "Thanks big bro. I always knew I could count on you for support."

He winked at her. "Well, you got the brains in the family. Naturally, that landed me with all the looks, wit, and emotional depth. It's a heavy burden to bear."

"And apparently humility was not part of that burden," Ava said, drily. "Anyway, Nat said she needed to pick up Clint, but she'd meet us at the airport."

"Great. Let's go meet the wizard of Oz," Jack said, drily.

"Really?" Ava said, raising a single eyebrow.

"Hey, my new leg, my puns," Jack said defensively as they left the apartment, Steve trying desperately (and failing) to not stare at Ava's ass as he followed her out the door.

* * *

Tony's jaw didn't exactly drop when Ava walked into the room, but it came damn near close before he caught himself and stuck out a hand for her to shake. "Tony Stark, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist and resident leg builder extraordinaire. Dr. Ava Harper, I assume?" He said, shooting Steve a sidelong glance that set his teeth on edge.

Ava raised her eyebrows as she took his proffered hand. "You'd better hope so, or else your security needs some major help."

Steve ducked his head and hid a smile. He had nursed some doubts about how she'd stand up to someone like Tony, but clearly, his worries were pointless. She wouldn't let herself be cowed by anyone, even Iron Man. As if sensing his thoughts, Ava looked at him and winked brashly.

"So, how's our darling Captain treating you?" said Tony, reclaiming his bravado. "Are you… _satisfied_ with that relationship?"

Steve went to open his mouth and rebuke Tony for the implication, but stopped himself when he saw the familiar glint in Ava's eyes. "Why yes, Tony, I'd have to say I am. Everyone knows that the serum made Steve…. bigger."

"Aaaaaaand that's where I'm going to stop this conversation," said Jack, stepping in. "Sergeant Jack Harper, sir. Pleasure to meet you."

Tony turned towards Jack and shook his hand, frowning thoughtfully. "Right, the man who this party's all about. Come over here, Jarvis'll start measuring you so we can get the prosthetic to fit you properly." Tony led Jack over to a glass-walled area and sat him down on a bench so he could pull off the prosthetic he already had on.

Ava edged over to Steve and leaned over. "So did I embarrass you too badly?" she said softly, teasing.

Steve blushed and looked over at her, a small smile on his face. "It's Tony. I'm used to it. Didn't expect that coming from you, though," he said, giving her a questioning look.

Ava gave him a little grin. "I figured it wasn't worth denying it. And something tells me that with this guy, it's better to fight fire with fire."

"You're not wrong there," said a woman's voice from behind them. Steve and Ava turned around to find the world's most famous female CEO striding towards them. "Hi, you must be Dr. Harper. I'm Pepper Potts. And I love that dress, by the way."

Ava smiled and shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Really, I'm such a fan. Any woman who can run a Fortune 500 company and put up with Tony Stark 24/7 is my hero. And yeah, Natasha picked it out for me."

Pepper smiled. "That woman has killer taste, if you'll excuse the pun."

Ava snorted. "I have got to use that one on her. Or maybe not. I'm pretty sure Clint's the only one who can get away with making jokes like that with her."

"She gets more relaxed after a couple shots of tequila. Still deadly, but most of her energy is at least diverted into killer dance moves instead of, you know, actual murder," Pepper said, laughing.

"Nat doing tequila shots? I would pay to say that," Ava said, shaking her head.

"You should come out with us! We do girl's night every week with whoever's in town. Natasha, me, Maria, Darcy, and Jane, when we can pull her out of the lab- have you met any of the others, actually?" Pepper asked, looking at Steve.

"No, actually. I honestly doubt I would have met Natasha or Clint if they hadn't just shown up and invited themselves in. Steve is kinda secretive about you all," Ava said, sending Steve a mocking look.

"I'm just trying to keep you from becoming a target!" Steve said, defensively.

"Really?" said Ava, raising her eyebrows. "Why would I be more of a target than anyone else who works with Stark, or any of the other Avengers?"

"Because… because….," Steve stuttered, trying to come up with a suitable reason for his concern.

Pepper smoothly chimed in, giving Steve a sympathetic look over Ava's head. "I'm sure he's just worried because you have such a public job, it's easier for someone to go after you than someone who works in a secure facility like Stark Tower, and you don't have the same training as the ex-SHIELD employees they work with on a regular basis."

Ava shrugged and Steve sent Pepper a grateful look, who quickly winked at him before focusing on Ava again. "So, drinks tonight?"

"Well, Pepper, you know I'm flattered, but I don't think I can handle that many women at once," said Tony, waltzing up.

Pepper raised a single perfect eyebrow at him, and Tony shrank. "So, rather than continuing to antagonize my perfect CEO and girlfriend, I'm going to talk about your brother's new leg. I'm having Jarvis build it right now, so it should be ready by tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"That's amazing, thank you so much, Mr. Stark," Ava said, smiling at him.

Tony grinned back at her. "Pretty girls get to call me Tony." Seeing the look Pepper was giving him, Tony raised his hands defensively. "She is, objectively, pretty! Come one, Firecracker, back me up."

"Firecracker?" Steve asked, mildly.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on, man. The red, white, and blue popsicles?"

Ava cracked up. "Oh, I'm definitely using that one someday."

Tony grinned. "I like this one. Can we keep her?" he asked, turning to Pepper.

"You'll all stay at the tower overnight, of course," Pepper said, ignoring Tony. "Steve already has a room, but we'll get both of you settled in guest rooms in no time."

"Thank you so much, Miss Potts," Jack said.

"Pepper, please. Don't make me feel old," she said, lightly, leading them to the elevator.

* * *

"Come on, admit it," Pepper said, raising her eyebrows over the rim of her cocktail. "There's no way you haven't tapped that ass. Or at least noticed it."

Ava blushed bright red, helped by the three shots of tequila Darcy had talked her into. "Okay, I'm not going to lie, I've definitely noticed. But nothing's happened! I mean, there was this one moment, but nothing really happened."

"Anything that makes you blush that much is a story I NEED to hear," said Darcy, leaning in.

Ava shook her head as Natasha sat down at the table, carrying a fresh cocktail. "What are we talking about?" asked Natasha, sipping her cocktail delicately.

"Pepper thinks Ava and Captain Ass had sex but Ava denies it. We have decided, however, that something happened definitely did happen, since her face the same color as my cocktail," said Maria dryly, raising her cosmopolitan.

"Oh, is this about the time that you and Steve slept together?" asked Natasha, a quiet smile spreading across her face.

All the other women at table instantly turned towards Ava, shouting questions at her as she protested. "It wasn't like that! And goddamnit, Natasha, you keep secrets for a living and you sell me out like that?"

Natasha smiled and sipped her cocktail with a shit-eating grin without responding. Maria rolled her eyes and responded. "She only keeps them as long as she sees fit. You should have tried dating in SHIELD. It was impossible to keep anything a secret. Even if you're trying to," she said, sending Natasha a side eyed glare.

"Hey, you shouldn't have been embarrassed. Everyone wanted to hook up with the intern. You didn't know he was twenty until after you slept with him," said Natasha with a smirk.

Maria threw her hands up in mock disgust. "He was cute! And I'm twenty-seven, for Christ's sakes! It's not like I was cradle robbing! Ava slept with Steve, and he's technically ninety-seven and she's twenty-five!"

"We didn't sleep together like that! I just… it was the night I found out about my brother's leg, and he didn't want me to be alone in my apartment after the bad news, so he offered to sleep on the couch and let me have his bed."

"Aaaaaand…" said Natasha, not letting it end there.

"Aaaaaand I offered that we share the bed instead, because it was very large-"

"I bet it was," said Darcy, wiggling her eyebrows lasciviously.

Ignoring her and the laughs following her comment, Ava continued, "And we shared the bed. Perfectly innocent. Aside from how we woke up wrapped around each other with a VERY happy half-asleep Steve nuzzling me," she confessed to hoots from the other women. "BUT nothing happened. As soon as he woke up he flew across room like someone lit a fire under his ass. Little offensive, to be honest."

Pepper raised a single, perfect brow at that. "Ava, if you think that boy doesn't want to be all over you, you are completely crazy."

"Come on! He's never done anything even slightly sexual towards me. I swear today was the first time he's actually looked at me like a woman."

At that, Natasha actually snorted. The other women turned toward her, clearly surprised that she gave that much of a reaction. "Ava, I have literally seduced men on every continent. I know desire. That man wants you bad. He's just too much of a gentleman to make a move. He thinks he's too old for you."

Ava stared at her. "There's no way. He's twenty eight! I'm almost twenty six!"

"Physically, yes, but he actually has been alive for almost a century. He feels like you should be with someone with less baggage," Natasha said.

"How do you know this shit?" said Ava, astonished.

Natasha shrugged, her face classically blank.

"Well, there you go, then," said Darcy, signaling to the waiter for another round of tequila shots. "You can tap Captain Ass's ass, and I can live vicariously through that."

"Amen to that," Maria said, finishing off her cosmo.

"Nuh-uh," Darcy said, waving a finger dramatically. "You banged a superhero. You don't understand my pain."

"Technically, I slept with Clint before he was a superhero," Maria said, defensively. "And besides, he's not one of the pretty ones."

"Technicalities don't count! I am alone in my non-superhero-banged corner," Darcy said dramatically. "And I'm telling Clint you said he wasn't pretty. His feelings are going to be hurt."

"Steve and I haven't banged!" Ava protested.

"Matter of time," Darcy said, matter-of-factly. "Or it better be, because I need details about what Captain Ass looks like naked."

Ava laughed at that. "I'll tell you what, if anything ever does happen with Steve, you will get a full report," she promised.

"I'll drink to that," Maria said, raising her tequila shot as the others laughed.

* * *

Jack looked up from his computer at the knock on his door. "Yeah, what's up?" he called out.

Steve cracked open the door and stuck his head in. "You have a minute?"

Jack nodded and gestured for him to come in. "Of course, man. What's up?"

Steve walked into the room and shut the door, then stood there rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "It's just- uh- I mean- Jack, you know we're friends, right? I mean, I see you as a good friend. And I would never want to do anything to jeopardize that friendship. Because I value it too much."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Man, are you trying to ask me out or something?"

Steve turned reddened and shook his head. "No, it's just that I, uh, I'd like to ask your permission to court your sister," he said, internally wincing as he realized how dated he sounded. "That is, uh, date her. If it's okay with you. Because I don't want to jeopardize our friendship."

Jack stared at him for a moment, then started to laugh. "Oh god, Steve," he gasped when he finally managed to control himself. "That's what that whole speech was about? Obviously I'm okay with it. You're Captain fucking America, I kinda doubt that Ava's going to find anyone better. Besides, you're the reason I'm getting a super awesome new leg designed by fucking _Iron Man_."

"Well, Tony's the one doing that-" Steve started to say, but Jack waved his hand at him.

"Man, I know damn well Tony Stark wouldn't be building me a leg if you hadn't asked him to. Although I will say, as your friend and someone who knows my sister well? Don't ever tell her you asked for my permission to ask her out. She'd kill both of us. Probably in very slow and creative ways."

Steve grinned a little at that. "I don't doubt it."

Jack nodded, grinning, then hesitated, his face growing more solemn. "Look, man," he said, hesitantly, "I know you're a good guy, but that being said… be careful with my little sis, alright? I'm not giving you the whole 'I'll kick your ass if you hurt her speech', mostly because it's actually a little depressing how much of an empty threat that is," he said, with a rueful laugh. "But she's been treated badly before, and it's been a long time since I've seen her so relaxed with a guy, the way she is with you. I mean, she likes Sam and Clint too, but she treats them the way she treats me. Like brothers. I can tell she likes you, and trusts you, and that's a big deal for her. So promise me you'll be careful with her, okay?"

Steve nodded. "I swear to you, Jack, I'd never do anything to hurt her. Or let anyone else hurt her."

Jack's grin returned. "Coming from Captain America, I'd say that's a pretty solid promise," he said, laughing a little. "Thanks, man. Good luck."

Steve nodded again and waved good night, shutting the door behind him as he left.

Jack sat there for a moment, shaking his head. "Captain America and my sister," he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "And I'm chilling in Iron Man's guest bedroom while he builds me a new leg. This is my life now." He gave a short, disbelieving laugh and went back to his computer.


	16. Chapter 14

**I know, I know, I'm the worst for not updating. Still, thanks for all the reviews, and welcome to all the new followers! Thanks for joining the party, guys. Anyway, just kind of a fun, fluffy chapter. Working a little bit more on that group dynamic, and yes, the big Steve and Ava scene all of you are waiting for should be here in the next couple chapters. Honestly, I'd originally had it in this chapter, but it felt a little abrupt so I changed it up a bit. Don't hate me for making you wait! Hopefully you'll like this storyline enough that you won't be too mad about me putting it off a little longer. As always, your reviews make me very happy, so please keep sharing your thoughts! They really do make my day and make me excited to continue the story.**

Steve looked up from his paper and smiled a little bit as Ava slowly walked into the common area and headed towards the kitchen. "Late night?" he asked, his voice quiet.

Ava shook her head and winced. "I am never drinking tequila again," she said, sniffing at the coffee pot and filling up a mug. "And I am never letting Darcy order my drinks ever again."

Pepper walked into the room in time to hear the last part of that sentence and laughed. "If you think you are the first or last person to utter that sentence, you are mistaken," she said with a sympathetic smile. "Rough morning?"

"I sat on the floor of my shower for almost an hour until I was sure I could move without puking," Ava said, leaning against the counter. "I don't know how you're up and functioning."

"I bribed the bartender to make my tequila shots water shots about halfway through the night," Pepper said drily. "I've gone out with Darcy enough times to take precautions."

"Wish you'd clued me in on that," Ava said as Jack walked into the room with Sam.

"Hey little sis, how you feeling this morning?" Jack said, loudly and cheerfully. He slung an arm around his sister as she covered her ears.

"I know where you sleep, the number of ways I know how to kill you is higher than you can count, and I'm fairly confident in my ability to hide your body," Ava said, glaring at him. "And I'm friends with two master assassins in case my abilities fall short. Don't tempt me."

"You just need more coffee," Jack said cheerfully, grabbing an apple out of the bowl on the counter and biting into it with gusto. "Besides," he said, mumbling through a mouthful of apple, "I'm fairly certain Clint wouldn't help you kill me. I still owe him twenty bucks from our last poker night, and collecting that requires me to be alive."

"I wouldn't bet your life on that," Sam said easily as he flopped on the couch. "I've dealt with your hungover sister before. She can be pretty scary when she's not lying on the floor hiding under a blanket."

"I wasn't hiding under a blanket," Ava protested. "You just surprised me, that's all. I didn't expect to wake up in some random guy's house."

"That's somewhat comforting to know," Jack said, moving away before his sister had time to retaliate.

She glared at him as Natasha and Clint joined the congregation in the kitchen. Clint raised his eyebrows at the sight of her slumped against the counter, clutching her coffee mug for dear life. "Darcy got you with the tequila shots last night?"

"Did everyone know about this but me?" Ava said plaintively.

"Pretty much," Natasha said, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a cup of brown goop. "Drink this."

Ava eyed it dubiously. "You do realize I'm already nauseous, right?"

Natasha didn't move, still holding out the cup. "Drink."

Ava sighed and took it from her, setting down her coffee cup. "I'm really hoping that if you're poisoning me, this is at least something that's going to kill me quickly." She pinched her nose and threw the drink back quickly and immediately started coughing. "What the hell was that?"

"Hangover cure," Natasha said, only a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

Ava gagged again and quickly drank some coffee to try to erase the taste. "Ugh. I guess it must work though if you're functioning this morning. I'm pretty sure you drank twice what I did last night."

"Oh, I don't need it," Natasha said, that hint of a smile growing a little deeper. "I don't get hungover."

"It's true," Pepper said, shooting Natasha a mildly irritated look. "It's one of the most annoying things about her."

Natasha shrugged and went to join Sam on the couch, shoving his legs out of her way. Ava turned back to her brother, who was eating his apple and looking immensely amused with everything going on around him. "So, what's the plan for today?"

"The plan for today is that I continue to astonish everyone with my graciousness as a host and my brilliance as an inventor," Tony said, sweeping dramatically into the room. "Thanks for that perfect entrance, Doc."

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asked, lifting his eyebrows.

Tony turned to him and made a face. "You have no concept of the dramatic, Firecracker," he said. "In layman's terms, today I'm going to play Oprah. You," he said, pointing to Jack, "get your new leg today. And everybody gets a vacation!"

This time, it was Pepper's turn to raise her eyebrows at Tony. "Darling," she said, her voice calm, "you're being intentionally vague and taunting a room with four superheroes, an ex-soldier, a hungover doctor, and your girlfriend. I'd consider being more helpful, if I were you."

"Very good point, my beautiful girlfriend who I would never intentionally irritate," Tony said, coming over to Pepper and kissing her on the cheek. "What I meant to say was that I've finished your brother's perspective, and as a gift to myself after all of the hard work Jarvis and I put into it, I've decided that we should test it out at my villa in Mexico. Group vacation!"

Everyone in the room traded looks. "Tony, I have work Tuesday, I can't go on vacation," Ava said.

Tony waved his hand at her. "Don't be ridiculous, we'll only be gone for a couple weeks. I'm sure you have mountains of vacation time stored up anyway."

"And I have board meetings, Tony. You know this," Pepper said, firmly.

"You can teleconference! You're the boss, you're allowed to play hooky if you want. I should know, I used to do it all the time," Tony said airily.

"And Sam and I have work at the vet center," Steve said. "We can't just put our lives on hold because you want to take a vacation, Stark."

Tony sighed. "Fine. Firecracker and Birdbrain 2, I will donate a half million dollars to your vet center if you stop being such buzzkills and come on vacation. Doc, same deal for your hospital. That work?"

"So basically you're telling me that if I go on vacation to your private house in Mexico, you'll donate a huge sum of money to the vet center that we could really use?" Sam asked, disbelievingly. "Don't have to tell me twice. And Steve accepts too," he said, shooting Steve a look to shut him up before he could turn it down.

Tony turned expectantly to Ava, who had a torn look on her face. "So? Doc? You in?"

Ava hesitated, then sighed in defeat. "Fine. But I'm leaving immediately if the hospital desperately needs me. And I'll need to go home in pack; I don't have enough clothes with me for a long trip."

"Don't worry about that," Pepper said, stepping in. "We'll take care of that. Jarvis, do you have Ava's measurements?"

"Yes, Miss Potts," Jarvis replied. "Shall I create a shopping cart of items for Dr. Harper and present it to you for approval?"

"I'll do that," Natasha said.

"No, really, that's not necessary-" Ava started to protest, but Pepper cut her off.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's the least Tony can do since he's dragging us all away from our lives for this," she said, shooting Tony a look.

"You make it sound like I'm dragging you off to the dungeon at gunpoint," Tony grumbled. "Normal people would be overjoyed to have me offer my private villa as a resort!"

"Then make friends with normal people, darling," Pepper said.

* * *

Six hours later, Ava walked into her room and almost gasped. It was beautiful, with a huge bed, attached bathroom and a balcony that opened onto the gardens. When she opened her closet, she discovered that it was already filled with clothes, though she couldn't imagine how they had already been delivered. Shrugging, she quickly showered and changed into a bathing suit, grabbing a bottle of sunscreen as she walked up to the rooftop pool Tony had showed them on his interactive map of the villa (which really was more like a resort, despite his protests.) Tony had taken Jack straight to his lab to try on the leg and work out any kinks with it, but Ava had opted out. It might be selfish, but Tony had point when he pointed out that she must have tons of vacation time stored up; she couldn't even remember the last time she'd taken a real vacation. Even If she'd been bullied into it, she was going to enjoy it.

She walked out onto the deck and staked out her deck chair, pulling off the oversized shirt she'd brought from home. All of the bikinis Natasha had picked out for her were a little small for her taste, but she had to admit they looked great. This one was her favorite of them, a bright red pair that stood out brightly against her skin. She sat down on the chair and started smearing on sunscreen.

"Mind if I join you?" Steve said from behind her.

Ava jumped, squirting a blob of sunscreen onto her towel. "Goddamnit," she said, trying to wipe the glob up without smearing it around, and looked up at Steve who looked abashed. "I swear, Steve, I'm going to put a bell around your neck."

"Sorry," he said, reddening slightly. "Bad habit."

Ava halfheartedly waved her hand at him in a dismissive gesture and went back to applying sunscreen. "Come on, sit down. At least that way I know where you are," she said, her voice a little bit teasing.

Steve laid out his towel on the chair next to her, trying very hard to focus on that instead of the way she leaned over in that tiny bikini to rub sunscreen on her legs.

Ava paused and held out the bottle. "You need some?"

Steve shook his head. "Can't burn. Another benefit of the serum."

"Lucky you," she said, ruefully. "I wish that was true for me. Actually, could you do me a favor and put this on my back?"

Steve froze for a second, then forced himself to relax. "Sure," he said, in a forcibly cheerful voice. He took the sunscreen she passed him, then poured a small dollop on his hands. "Could you lift your hair up for me?" he asked, keeping his voice nonchalant.

"Oh yeah, of course," Ava said, twisting her hair up with both hands and holding it out of his way. Steve started smoothing the sunscreen along her shoulders, working his way down slowly and carefully. He was just being thorough because he didn't want her to get sunburned, Ava rationalized. No other reason. She couldn't deny how good it felt, though. His hands were gentle, the skin warm against her back. She gave a brief shiver and Steve instantly drew back, hyperaware of her reaction.

"Sorry, is the sunscreen too cold?" he asked.

She turned her head and gave him a reassuring smile. "No worries, just a random shiver. Guess someone just walked over my grave," she said, with a short little laugh, and turned back around so Steve could resume.

He gently worked it into her shoulders and down under the tie of her bikini, very carefully not thinking about how incredibly easy it would be for him to pull on the string and how her top would just fall right off. "Lower back too?" he said, his voice convincingly even.

"If you don't mind," Ava said.

In the back of his mind, Steve heard a phantom Bucky from a long time ago snort. _Wow, what a trial, having to run your hands all over a beautiful woman in a tiny bathing suit_ he imagined Bucky saying, and smiled faintly. Something told him that the old Bucky would have had some very strong words about how he was handling this situation with Ava. He reached the edge of her suit bottom and, very carefully, applied a layer of sunscreen, his hands just barely dipping down below the edge. "Listen, Ava, I-"

"COWABUNGA!" yelled Clint, sprinting out of the elevator and cannonballing into the pool, creating a big enough splash that Ava yelped and jumped up and away from the cool water.

Natasha followed him out of the elevator at a more sedate pace and sat down on Ava's other side, her eyes gleaming with amusement. "That idiot's going to kill himself doing that," she said affectionately as Clint popped his head out of the water, grinning.

"If he doesn't kill himself, I might kill him instead," Ava said threateningly, and Clint laughed.

"You're welcome to try, Doc!"

Ava stood and ran over to the pool, diving in far more gracefully. As she surfaced and jumped on Clint's head, trying fruitlessly to shove him under as he laughed at her efforts, Natasha leaned over to Steve. "Nice moves there, Romeo."

Steve's face instantly turned bright red. "I wasn't- that is, Ava just asked me to put sunscreen on her back for her. That's all. No moves."

Natasha rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Steve, you do realize I'm a master spy, right? Not blind, which is what I'd have to be to not see how you feel about her."

"You're imagining things, Natasha," Steve said, attempting a nonchalant air. "And I thought you'd given up on meddling in my love life?"

"Not given up. Biding my time. I was kind of hoping you'd go for it on your own without any encouragement," Natasha said, lifting her sunglasses to turn to look at him. "But enough is enough, Steve, come on. Everyone can see how into each other you two are except the two of you. So take my advice and make your move."

"I kinda hate it when you give me advice, you know that?" Steve said. "Makes me feel like I'm being scolded by my mother or something."

Natasha smiled and settled her sunglasses back over her eyes. "Then stop being stupid and show me that you don't need my advice," she said, smugly.


	17. Chapter 15

**So hopefully no one's complaining about me posting two chapters in two days after being so bad about posting regularly. And yes, it's official, next chapter, I promise they'll actually get together. All those people who were betting on Tony and Natasha locking them in a room together, you weren't far off! Though Ava and Steve aren't together yet, so there's still time for them to get desperate enough. As always, please review and let me know your thoughts!**

"So, your sister and the patriotic dorito, huh?" said Tony as he knelt next to the bench, using a pin sized tool to fix something Jack couldn't see in his new prosthetic leg.

Jack cracked up. "I like that. Patriotic dorito, that's perfect."

Tony looked up at him, a crooked smile on his face. "I knew I liked you, kid. Nobody appreciates my wit here. Except Jarvis, of course," he amended.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mr. Stark," Jarvis responded, causing Tony to scowl up at the ceiling.

"You do realize I can turn you off, right?" he said to the air.

"I wouldn't recommend it, sir, for Sergeant Harper's sake. You've overcorrected; if he attempts to bend his knees, the prosthetic will freeze."

Tony peered at the prosthetic, then swore vividly. "Jarvis, sometimes you're a real pain in the ass."

"I'm afraid I can't take the credit, sir. You programmed me with aspects of your own personality."

Jack snorted. "That explains a lot."

Tony idly flicked a middle finger in his direction as he readjusted the leg. "I take back what I said before. I like your sister better."

"Understandable," Jack said, grinning. "So, is that why you're doing this? Win brownie points with my sister?"

"Sadly, as lovely as your sister is, Pepper has my heart and my company, as well as the ability to turn me into a bonfire if I truly piss her off. Besides, I think even Captain Morals might get down off his high horse to murder me if I actually made a pass at her," Tony said absently, focused on his work.

Jack shook his head. "I don't know. I can't imagine him doing anything that's not perfectly upright. He actually asked my permission to court my sister."

Tony put his hands over his face and leaned back on his heels, shaking his head. "Oh. Oh, that is too rich. He seriously asked that?" He snorted. "Well, for the record, I knew that they were banging. Oh, right, sorry," he said, seeing the strained expression on Jack's face. "She's your sister. Probably shouldn't say stuff like that."

Jack grimaced. "Kid sister. And I doubt it, since he asked me last night at the Tower."

Tony's eyes opened wide, and a slow, evil grin grew across his face. "So they aren't together yet? Oooooh I'm gonna have fun with this. So much fun."

"Sir, Miss Potts has instructed me to warn you when you're about to make a decision that is likely to end in you getting in a physical confrontation. It is my duty to inform you that any action you take is likely to end in a physical confrontation between you and Captain Rogers," Jarvis said, his voice sounding reproachful.

"Jarvis, you're only making this sound more appealing," Tony said, mischief written all over his face. He stood up and held out a hand to Jack. "Okay kid, stand up and move around, let's see how it works."

Jack hopped off the counter and gingerly lifted each leg, checking his balance with the weight of the new leg. He bent his knees a few times, then took a few steps and turned to Tony, his eyes wide. "This is insane, man," he said, his voice awed. "It feels like my old leg is back."

"Well, honestly, probably a little bit better than your old leg," Tony said, smugly. "It's stronger, and it'll last much longer. It won't get tired, or itchy, or fall asleep. The polymer it's encased in makes it waterproof as well. Once we're sure it's working properly, I'll call a geneticist friend of mind, and we'll make it look normal too."

Jack looked at him, long and hard. "Tony, really. This is…. It's amazing. It doesn't even hurt like the old one. With this… I can have a life, man. I don't even need a cane. I'm gonna owe you for the rest of my life, man."

Tony shook his head. "Least I could do. Call it my good deed for the year."

Jack hesitated, then walked over to Tony and quickly hugged him, then stepped back. "Really, Tony. Anything you ever need."

"Easy there, tiger," Tony said, jokingly. "I told you, thoroughly devoted to Pepper. But, since you did say anything… Jarvis, where are the others?"

"Captain Rogers, Dr. Harper, Mr. Barton and Ms. Romanoff are all on the roof. Ms. Potts is in your room, videoconferencing with Ms. Arbogast, Mr. Shane, and Mrs. Thomas. Mr. Wilson is in the theater, watching _Miss Congeniality_. Miss Hill is in the gym, boxing," Jarvis recited.

"Okay, file away that Miss Congeniality thing for future mocking. Let's have dinner on the sunset terrace an hour before sunset, and ensure that everyone looks like the civilized human beings they pretend to be, okay? And please ensure that the Itsy-Bitsy Spider is in charge of dressing up the Doc," Tony said, grinning.

Jack eyed him. "Something tells me that the favor you're planning on calling in tonight is going to be enough that I'm going to regret offering."

* * *

"Nat, I really don't need help getting dressed," Ava protested as Nat followed her into her bedroom. "I'm a big girl."

Nat raised her eyebrows. "You weren't complaining when I helped you get ready for Steve's housewarming party, or meeting Tony."

Ava reddened slightly. "Well, this is different. It's not like this is a special occasion."

Natasha firmly turned her toward the bathroom and pushed her in. "Shower. Shave your legs. Trust me."

Ava threw her a disbelieving look. "That's what Darcy said about two tequila shots before last night became a blur."

"Shave your legs," Natasha said firmly, and shut the bathroom door. She could hear Ava grumbling under her breath, but the shower switched on and Natasha smiled to herself and walked over to Ava's closet. She rifled through the drawers, pulling out a delicate (and very expensive, not that Ava needed to know) matching white lace bra and underwear set, then searched the closet until she found the dress that she'd ordered for exactly this purpose. Honestly, if Tony thought she was doing this because he asked, he was even more obtuse than he acted in front of the US government. If last night had made one thing clear, it was that both Ava and Steve just needed that final nudge in each other's direction to get things going, and Tony's impromptu vacation offered a perfect chance for that. Looking at the dress, Natasha smiled. Steve wasn't going to know what hit him.

The water turned off and Ava walked out a few minutes later in a robe from the bathroom, her hair wrapped up in a towel. "Yeah, yeah, I shaved my legs," she said before Natasha had a chance to talk. "Barbie here, reporting for duty."

Natasha just silently picked up the clothes and passed them to Ava, who set them on the bed and started pulling on the underwear up under her robe while Natasha went into the bathroom to shower. When Natasha came out, Ava was wearing the dress she'd picked out for her. It was a long, white, silky dress that came down low in front and had a long slit that went all the way up her thigh. She looked like a Greek goddess, and Natasha smiled to herself.

"I look ridiculous. I hope you know that," Ava said. "This is way too fancy for a dinner with friends."

Natasha threw her a look, then pulled off her robe and pulled on the tight, low-cut black dress that she was wearing to dinner, then raised her eyebrows at Ava.

Ava huffed. "Fine, fine, I know, trust your judgement."

Natasha gave Ava a quick smile and sat her down on the bed, pulling out her makeup kit and setting to work on her. "Is there a reason you're doing this?" Ava said, keeping her eyes closed. "I mean, besides your apparent enjoyment of dressing me up."

"You and Steve need to get your shit together and admit that you're into each other," Natasha said, bluntly. Ava's eyes snapped open and she opened her mouth to protest, but Natasha cut her off before she could start. "Or, if you really aren't into him, he should at least see what he's missing. And, yes, I do like dressing you up. It's fun doing this and knowing that it's unlikely you're going to murder someone at the end of the night. Okay, you can open your eyes."

Ava opened her eyes and looked speculatively at Natasha. "You know when you say things like that, I don't have any good argument as to why you shouldn't dress me up."

Natasha gave Ava her spy smile. "That's why I said it."

* * *

Steve leaned against the balcony railing and readjusted his tie. "Remind me again why we had to wear the monkey suits?" he asked Sam, who looked equally uncomfortable in his suit.

"Because Tony stole all of the other clothes out of our rooms?" Barton supplied helpfully as he walked up. "Or more accurately, Tony and Natasha planned this together. I think he just delights in our pain, and Natasha enjoys watching all of us squirm."

"Well, you're not wrong," Tony said cheerfully, walking up to them. "Scotch?" he asked, proffering the glasses he was carrying towards to the assembled men. "For the men who can actually drink, that is," he said, grinning mockingly at Steve as the others took the glasses, most of them throwing them back right away.

"I'll take one of those," Maria said, walking up to the group.

Tony looked sadly at the last glass he was carrying, then reluctantly held it out to Maria and went to get another drink. Pepper walked up as he left, calling after him to get her a martini too. "Maria, you looked beautiful. And gentlemen, you all look very handsome," she said. "Dressing like this suits you."

Maria snorted a little bit into her glass at Pepper's subtle pun and took a sip of her stolen drink. She had to admit, all the men did look good. Pepper too, as always. She was wearing a simple silver sheath that looked stunning with her hair, which was pulled up in a sophisticated chignon. Self-consciously, Maria smoothed her dark blue dress. She loved the color, but dressing up didn't exactly fall into her comfort zone. Working with Fury had meant that "dressing up" usually meant putting on a bulletproof vest, not a dress.

Pepper caught her nervous gesture and gave her a reassuring smile. "Really, Maria, you look fantastic," she said, speaking softly as the guys started complaining about the suits again.

"Seriously, why are we dressing up like this? I can't even remember the last time Nat backed Tony up on something," Maria asked.

Pepper smiled a little bit to herself. "They usually don't have a common goal. The whole point of this thing is to get Ava and Steve to finally get together. Tony wants to do it because he likes Steve enough to want to actually help him with this but can't let Steve know that he cares, and Nat because she'll win her bet with Clint if they get together now."

Right on cue, Natasha and Ava walked out onto the terrace. The two women watched as Ava instantly looked to Steve, who had stopped talking midsentence and was staring at Ava with his mouth open. Admittedly, she looked stunning in her dress, helped by the blush that started under Steve's awed look.

Maria raised her eyebrows. "Didn't know there was going to be a show with dinner," she said, laugher in her voice, as Pepper hid her smile behind her hand.


	18. Chapter 16

**Hopefully, three chapters in three days isn't too much for you guys. Once I got that first chapter written, these last two just kinda followed super easily. But yes, it's finally here! Fair warning, this chapter is definitely a little more PG-13 than I usually write, but nothing super explicit. Hopefully no one complains about it, but as always, if you have thoughts, comment and let me know! I love all your reviews.**

After dinner, Tony looked over at Jack and cleared his throat, loudly. Jack sat up quickly. "You know what, I bet I can get an even better view of the sunset from the pool deck. Steve, Ava, would you give me a hand? My new leg's a bit stiff and I left my crutches in my room."

Ava looked over, instantly concerned. "Of course, you want me to grab them from your room while Steve gets you up there? Tony can come along too and take a quick look at the leg too, if he has time?" She looked questioningly at Tony, who quickly lost the smile he wasn't really trying to hide.

"I would, but, uh….." Tony stumbled, attempting to come up with a good reason as to why he couldn't join them on the roof.

"But Tony has to grab his tools first, so he might as well grab Jack's crutches at the same time and just meet you up there," Pepper supplied smoothly, resting a hand on Tony's arm.

Ava shrugged as Tony gave Pepper an adoring look. "Fair enough. Come on Steve, let's get the old man here upstairs so he can see his sunset." Steve nodded amiably and went over to Jack, wrapping a supporting arm around his back to help him up. Jack thanked him and walked to the elevator, limping rather dramatically, Ava following them.

Clint leaned over to Natasha and murmured, "I'm guessing Jack didn't get away with playing hooky a lot."

Natasha smiled slightly, eyeing Jack thoughtfully as the elevator doors closed on the trio. "I find it rather refreshing."

Maria rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Oh god, don't say that. I know that look, Nat. Don't break that poor boy's heart."

Clint shook his head. "Too late. He's already done for," he said, his tone belying his teasing words.

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of terminal illness," Natasha said, her voice dry.

"Well, it's not an entirely unfair statement." Sam said, his voice equally dry.

Natasha rolled her eyes as the others at the table laughed.

* * *

Ava stepped out of the elevator, followed by Steve supporting Jack. The trio didn't make it more than a couple steps before Jack stopped and straightened, shrugging off Steve's supporting arm. "You know, I'm actually going to run to my room real fast and change. No need to help me, it's right by the elevator. You two stay here, I'll be right back!" he said, grinning, and quickly stepped back into the elevator. Ava and Steve stared after him, bemused.

"He was dropped on his head as a child," Ava said, breaking the silence. "A lot."

Steve chuckled and shook his head, looking out to the edge of the roof. "Well, he was right about the sunset. It looks spectacular up here."

Ava turned and walked over to the edge, leaning on the railing that encircled the deck. Steve leaned next to her, though his attention was more focused on the woman next to him than the sunset. "Yeah, a little bit better than the hospital parking lot that's my usual view," she joked.

Steve looked over at her. "It's amazing, what you do there," he said, his voice quiet.

Ava smiled a little bit, staring out at the sinking sun. "Not amazing. What all of you heroes do, that's amazing. A sunset like this, that's amazing. Surgery….. it's just years and years of work, culminating in a lot of hopeful guesses."

Steve laughed. "That's the biggest understatement I've ever heard."

Ava snorted and stood straight as the last slice of sun slipped beneath the horizon. "Okay, fine, I am pretty amazing," she said, humbly. She looked around, then walked over to one of the deck chairs and reclined in it, closing her eyes. Steve hesitated, then walked to the chair next to her and sat, trying not to stare at the way her dress slipped back off her leg, showing off her lightly tanned thigh. He leaned back, staring up at the stars.

Steve spoke, suddenly, startling Ava. "You know, on nights like these, I can almost pretend that the last few years have been some kind of dream, and it's still the 1940s," he said, his voice tinged with a little bit of sadness. "Whenever my mom had a chance, she used to take us- me and Bucky- to this little beach just outside of New York. This big public one. We'd spend the day playing, and she'd just sit on the sand, watching us play, and laugh at our games. We'd stay late, make a fire on the beach, and stare up at the stars. Those were always good days."

"What was she like?" said Ava, softly.

Steve smiled, sadly. "She was the best woman. She was kind, and brave, and strong."

Ava gave his hand a little squeeze. "Sounds like you take after her."

Steve shook his head. "If that's even a little bit true, I guess I can be proud of what I've done with my life." He turned his head slightly towards her. "What are your parents like? You've never really told me much about them."

Ava smiled fondly. "My dad is the sweetest man. He used to be a professional chef, but now he just teaches some cooking classes. Honestly, I think he's happier now that he's out of the professional chef world, even though I think sometimes he misses it. He says it just gives him more time to take care of my mom. She's a fashion designer. She's… well, she's a force of nature. She's so protective of her family. Comes from her Italian blood, I guess. She refuses to let anything stand in her way."

Steve let out a quiet laugh. "Wow, I wonder who that sounds like."

Ava rolled her eyes and shoved him a little bit with her shoulder. "I remember, there was this one time when I was little, and one of my teachers told my mother that I couldn't play on the soccer team for my age group because I was in an advanced grade. I swear, actual smoke was coming out of her ears when she lit into that teacher," she said, a smile in her voice.

"I'm guessing they let you onto the team after that?" Steve said, mildly.

Ava nodded. "Champions of our age group for three straight years." She stretched out a little, her dress slipping a little farther back up her leg.

Steve swallowed and turned his face upwards again. "So if your dad's a chef and your mom is a fashion designer, what made you decide to become a doctor?"

He heard Ava hesitate, then sigh. "If I tell you, you're not allowed to make fun of me," she said, seriously.

Steve smiled. "Promise."

"Well, when I was about seven years old, my brother and I were playing tag, and I jumped into the car to hide from him and slammed the car door on his hand by accident and sliced off the tip of his pinky finger." Absentmindedly, took his left hand, tracing the lines on his palm. Steve stared resolutely at the sky, though every brush of her fingers raised goosebumps along his arms. "It was like a nightmare. My brother and I were both crying and screaming, and my mother came swooping in and grabbed us and the finger and drove to the hospital by our house. As soon as we got in the door, they whisked my brother away. I was just crying nonstop, because I was sure that he was going to hate me forever. But about an hour later, a doctor came and escorted us into his room, and there he was, with his finger reattached. I thought it was magic."

"After that, I got kinda obsessed. I used to read all the medical books I could get my hands on. I used to make my mother drive me to the library so I could read the medical journals there you weren't allowed to check out. It actually kinda worried my father. I remember one night I overheard him talking to my mother about it. He was worried because I wasn't playing with dolls and doing all the stuff normal girls my age did. I still remember what my mother said. 'Chris, our daughter isn't normal. She's extraordinary. And if reading books about surgery is what makes her happy, I'll be damned if I let anyone stand in her way. Even you, caro mio.'" Ava smiled. "And she didn't. Any mother or kid who made fun of me was instantly banned from her circle of friends. She supported me every step of the way." She shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think I could have done it all without her. Or my dad, or Jack. They never really understood, but they still believed in me. Sent me care packages all through med school. My dad would make me my favorite treats, my brother would put in a copy of whatever brainless action movie was his favorite at the time, and my mom would throw in new clothes from her line. She always said that being busy was never an excuse to look anything but your best." She stared into the distance over the waves, smiling at the memory.

Hesitantly, Steve entwined his fingers with hers, watching her face. "They must be really proud of you."

Ava smiled and turned to look at him. "I think Mama tells everyone she meets that her daughter is a big time surgeon in Washington."

"I can see why she'd want to brag about you," Steve said, eyes locked with hers. Slowly, he leaned over towards her chair, bringing their faces together until-

Ava suddenly jumped up, pulling her hand out of his. "I want to go swimming," she said, her voice forcefully cheerful, worlds away from their quiet comfort of moments before.

Steve stared up at her, caught off guard by the sudden change in mood. "What?"

"I want to go swimming," Ava said, firmly.

Steve ran his fingers through his hair. "Ava, it's dark, you were drinking during dinner, and we don't have any bathing suits. You really think that's a good idea?"

Ava looked down at him, her smile stretched a little too tightly. "It'll be fun," she said, and slipped the straps of her dress off her shoulders, shimmying until it slipped off entirely, revealing the thin, lacy white bra and underwear she was wearing underneath. "And we don't need swimsuits. They're basically underwear," she said as Steve watched, open-mouthed, thinking to himself that no bathing suit had ever looked as good as that lingerie did on her. "Don't come if you don't want to, but I am damn well going swimming right now," she said, and ran to the edge of the pool and jumped in.

Steve shook himself and stood, untying his tie and stripping out of his suit as quickly as he possibly could, swearing under his breath. At super soldier speed, he followed her into the water and swam over to where she was floating, staring up at the night sky. "What the hell is your problem?" he asked, frustrated, trying not to look at her lacy underwear, which the water had rendered completely sheer.

"Language," Ava said, her eyes still focused upwards.

Steve grabbed her and pulled her against him, forcing her to look at him. "What's the matter, Ava?" he asked, confused by her reaction and frustrated by her refusal to tell him what was really going on. "Is this about me trying to kiss you? If that made you uncomfortable, you could have just told me. You didn't have to jump in a pool to get away from me."

Ava shook her head, not looking at him. "I can't talk about it. I don't want to talk about it."

Steve let out a frustrated huff of air. "Ava, I promise you, I'm not going anywhere. Our friendship isn't going to change, regardless. I just want to know what you want."

She finally looked at him. She had little dark circles under her eyes where her makeup had run, and Steve gently reached up and wiped them away with his thumb. At his gentle touch, Ava's breath caught, and Steve suddenly became very aware of the reaction that having her essentially naked and pressed up against him was having on him, cold water or no. He loosened his grip on her, giving her the space to move back if she wanted, but not letting her go entirely. She didn't move away.

"I'm here, Ava," he said, staring into her eyes. "Talk to me."

Ava shivered as she stared back into his beautiful blue eyes, more from the intensity of the look he was giving her than the cold. "You won't look at me the same way, Steve," she said, her voice quiet. "I don't think I could handle that."

Steve's face was gentle as he looked at her. "Ava. My best friends are responsible for killing thousands of people, not all of them bad guys. Earlier this year, I found out the organization I was working for was actually controlled by the evil Nazi organization I thought I wiped out seventy years ago. My best friend, who I thought had been dead for seventy years, tried to kill me, and all my friends, because he was brainwashed by evil Nazi scientists. Trust me when I say that there is very little that would make me run."

Ava gave a little dry laugh at that. "When you put it like that, it kinda makes me feel ridiculous," she said quietly. Steve just watched her silently. Ava shifted away from him and swam over to the pool steps, perching half out of the water. Steve followed her, sitting close to her but maintaining a careful amount of space between them.

Ava sighed. "When I was in med school, I started dating this guy. Conrad," she said, something inside of her still twisting when she said his name. "I was eighteen, he was twenty-eight. That probably should have been my first warning sign, but he was really popular in the program, and I didn't have many friends. No one wanted to hang out with the teenager," she said, her voice still bitter. "But Conrad was nice to me. He always smiled at me and made a point of talking to me, made sure I had a drink at parties. He made me feel included. So when he asked me out, I said yes." Ava's mouth twisted bitterly. "We went out to a fancy restaurant. He was so sweet and earnest, telling me he couldn't believe how lucky he was to be on a date with someone as beautiful as me, and how mature I was. I was so flattered that someone as worldly as him would say such things to me, so after dinner, he invited me back to his place, and I said yes. He offered me some wine, and I drank, even though I hated the taste, because it seemed like the grown up thing to do. And then things started getting physical, and we ended up in his bed, and he asked me if I wanted to have sex, and I said yes, because I wanted to show him how mature I was, and I thought that losing my virginity to him was so romantic."

"After we had sex, I went back to my apartment, and the next day I showed up to school, he completely ignored me. But no one else did. He'd told everyone about us having sex. Turned out, there was a betting pool on who could score with me. That had been the whole point. He won two hundred dollars. I couldn't believe it. I tried to confront him, but when I finally got him to talk back to me, all he said was that I should have realized it wasn't real. No one like him would want to be like a nerdy kid like me, not really, and if I was going to cry about it, I might as well drop out, because I clearly wasn't enough of an adult for the program."

Steve could only stare at her, horrified and filled with rage. "I'm going to kill him," Steve said, his voice almost a growl.

Ava shook her head. "He's dead already. Rock climbing accident two years ago," she said, softly. She was looking down at her feet. "Anyway, after that, I always feel suspicious when a guy who seems too good to be true shows interest. And you… you're pretty much the definition of too good to be true. And I just hate telling people that, because then they give me these pitying looks, and I hate that. I liked the way you looked at me."

"Ava, I- you-," Steve paused, searching for the words to express the overwhelming flood of emotions he felt. "I would never do something like that, to anyone, but especially not to you. What he did… that was an awful, disgusting thing to do to someone. And I couldn't pity you. You're too strong of a person for pity."

Ava turned her head enough to give him a little smile. "You know what's funny, though? He was right. I wasn't strong enough to be in med school then. But he changed that. After what he did… I refused to let myself be intimidated by anyone else, older or not. I focused wholly on the program, and shut everything else out. Didn't try to make friends, not that it would have done me much good anyway, after what he spread around. And it worked. I was the top of my class. Got accepted to every residency I applied for. Became a top surgeon at an age that most people are still in school. All because he wanted to win a stupid betting pool."

Steve reached out and turned her towards him, forcing her to look at him. "Ava. That had nothing to do with him," he said, cradling her face in his hands. "That was all you. That you could come back from having someone treat you like that, someone you trusted-" Steve shook his head. "That's amazing. You're amazing." His thumbs stroked her cheeks, gently. "Ava, the only thing this changed for me is that I'm now even more in awe of you."

She looked up at him, her eyes bewildered. "Steve, you don't mean that."

"Ava, I do," he said, firmly.

She shook her head. "Steve, come on. Be real here. I'm just normal. You're a superhero."

Steve's eyes searched her face, bewildered. "Ava, you are the most beautiful, smart, kind, brave woman I've ever known. You literally saved my life. You had someone you trusted betray you, and you turned right around and proved to him and yourself how wrong he was about your strength. You make amazing apple pie, you swear more than the actual soldiers I know, you have great taste in movies, and you take care of everyone around you. That you would let me touch you like this," he said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her so she was pressed against him, "is an honor for me."

Ava shook her head and looked away. "Steve, you don't have to say all that."

Steve grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "Ava. Believe me when I say there is nothing I want more than to hold you and tell you how amazing I think you are," he said, firmly, then leaned down and kissed her, trying to show her exactly how he felt, more than words could express.

Ava's eyes widened, then closed, and she let herself relax into the kiss. When Steve eventually pulled away, she opened her eyes slowly to find him staring at her.

"That was definitely worth the wait," he said, grinning.

Ava laughed a little bit and pulled his face down to hers again, and this time, Ava let herself react the way she wanted to. She wrapped her arms around his neck, then slid onto his lap so she was straddling him. Steve groaned a little bit at the sensation and slid his hand from her waist down to her ass, his fingers strong and confident. His other hand wrapped tightly in her hair and tugged a little bit, making Ava gasp. Steve locked onto her open mouth, taking the opportunity she had offered him, making Ava's nails dig little half-moons into his shoulders. With one hand holding her firmly pressed against him, he stood and walked out of the pool. Ava shivered a little bit and pulled back as they left the warmth of the pool water.

"Where are we going?" she said, her voice slightly huskier than usual.

Steve grinned at her and let her slip to a standing position, his hand sliding shamelessly over her ass as he did so. "I was thinking that, as much as I'd like to continue this right here, right now, it would probably be better to continue this somewhere a little more private than the rooftop pool," he said, his voice a little lower than usual as well. "Somewhere like my room."

Ava nodded eagerly, and Steve scooped up their clothes from the ground with one hand and held her hand tightly in his other hand, leading the way to the elevator. As they waited for it, Ava started to feel a little self-conscious, standing there in her underwear and looking at him. His wet boxers clung to him, leaving no doubt as to what he was thinking about. He was gorgeous, and all Ava could think about was that the huge dinner they'd eaten earlier that night. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to be casual, but Steve noticed.

"Are you cold?" He asked as they got in, and pulled her tightly against his body.

Ava shook her head and looked up at him, giving him a rueful smile. "No. Just wondering how I'm standing in underwear next to all of you," she said, waving her hand expressively at his body.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "Never expected you to be self-conscious," he said, his tone questioning. The elevator stopped and they got off, not speaking until they got into Steve's room.

"I'm usually not," Ava said, once the door was closed. "I'm hot. Puberty did good things for me. I know that. But you," she shook her head. "You're what male models aspire to be," she said, wincing a little bit in recognition of how stupid her words sounded as Steve passed her a towel from the bathroom.

"I wasn't always like this, you know. Trust me when I say you wouldn't have looked twice at me before the serum," Steve said, walking over to the dresser. He rifled through the drawer, then tossed Ava a shirt. When she looked at him, an unspoken question in her face, Steve shrugged. "I'd like to strip you down and toss you on the bed right now, but I don't think sleeping on damp sheets would be enjoyable for either of us," he said.

Ava smiled and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She shucked off the lacy white bra and her underwear, then quickly dried herself off. "I've seen the pictures, you know," she called out through the door. "You were cute even then. I would have looked at you twice."

"Where were you when I needed a date in the 1940s?" Steve joked, turning around as the bathroom door opened. He was wearing only a pair of sweatpants, which didn't hide much as he looked at Ava standing there wearing only his shirt. The shirt came down to her mid thighs, and Steve stared at the hem of it, wondering if she'd put on the sexy lace underwear she'd been wearing before back on or not. Ava walked over to him, hooking a single finger in the band of his sweatpants and pulling him towards her.

"Well, I'm here now," she said, a small, mischievous smile on her face. "So why don't you show me what those girls were missing?"

That was all that Steve needed. He easily picked her up and gently tossed her on the bed, then climbed after her until he was braced on his hands and knees above her. He kissed her on the mouth, hard, then slipped down to the foot of the bed and started kissing his way up the inside of her leg.


End file.
